Top 100 Songs Of 1990 Instant

Unlike today’s fragmented streaming charts, 1990 was a year of monoculture: CD sales exploded, MTV was king, and the Billboard Hot 100 was a battleground for hair metal, newborn grunge, golden-age hip-hop, and the first waves of club culture.

But the soul of 1990 was the moment Sinéad O’Connor looked into the camera and cried. The 80s were over. Nobody knew what came next. That uncertainty is what makes 1990 the most fascinating year in pop music history. top 100 songs of 1990

The saddest song ever written by Prince. The video—Sinéad’s face, tears streaming, shaved head—is pure art. It went #1 globally and proved that vulnerability could be punk rock. Unlike today’s fragmented streaming charts, 1990 was a

The goth prom anthem. Martin Gore’s masterpiece. A song about the futility of words set to a minimalist synth riff. It predicted the melancholic electronic 90s (The Faint, The Postal Service). Nobody knew what came next