The music of the 1990s was marked by a wide range of genres and styles that rose in popularity at different times. Many genres that had struggled in the past, such as country music and contemporary R&B, began to reclaim their popularity, while rap music maintained its prominence that it had gained at the end of the 1980s. Mainstream rock and roll’s popularity waned, while subgenres such as alternative, grunge, and Britpop grew in popularity. A resurgence in teen pop and bubblegum at the end of the decade was a reaction to some of the more edgier ’90s music that had dominated the first half of the decade.
The ’90s followed the decade of the ’80s, which was known for its decadence in music. Artists in the 1980s tended to combine strong visual elements with their music, turning their performances into pageants with the use of light and costume design. The rise of the music video genre played a large role in this, but by the end of the 1980s, the novelty of music television had worn off. Many fans began to yearn for more meaningful music, and as a result, much of the music of the 1990s was reactionary in nature.
Grunge, more than any other genre of music from the 1990s, epitomized this era. This style of rock, which originated in Seattle, Washington in the United States, combined elements of hard rock and punk with sober, often depressing lyrical themes. Nirvana and its lead singer and songwriter Kurt Cobain were the pioneers of the genre, which featured bands wearing muted jeans and flannel shirts and alternating quiet verses with loud, screeching choruses.
Rap music proved that it was more than a passing fad in the 1990s, as it remained a dominant force in the music industry. As artists like Jay Z and Tupac Shakur became some of music’s biggest stars, it easily transitioned from urban culture to mainstream. On the other hand, country music resurfaced as a major force in the music industry, thanks to artists such as Garth Brooks, who combined songwriting integrity with electrifying stage shows. R&B was boosted by talented singers like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and bubblegum was king in the second half of the decade thanks to the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.
While rock music may have appeared to be one of the poorer-performing genres of the 1990s, a closer look reveals that it was still present in various forms. Alternative music, in addition to grunge, became popular in the 1990s. Bands that had previously only received college radio airplay became household names. Britpop music was a huge force in Europe, as brash bands like Oasis and Blur reintroduced traditional British sounds and made headlines for their obnoxious behavior.