
Pulp Fiction is one of the best movies of the ’90s, and one of the best scenes in the movie is this one featuring John Travolta and Uma Thurman competing in Jack Rabbit Slims’ Twist Contest!
Featuring the best '90s music videos, TV shows, '90s celebrities and more!
Jamiroquai’s music video for ‘Virtual Insanity’ was voted number ten on Billboards list of the ten best music videos of the ’90s! At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in September 1997, it earned 10 nominations, winning four awards, including “Breakthrough Video” and the “Best Video of the Year.”
O.P.P. was released in August 1991 by Naughty By Nature. It was the lead single from their self-titled debut album, and it was one of the first rap songs to also become a pop hit when it peaked at number six on the Hot 100 charts. VH1 ranked it number 20 on their list of the 40 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of the ’90s!
The original cast of Saved by the Bell were on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and they discussed how cool it was when they all reunited on the Tonight Show back in 2105, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley spilled some behind-the-scenes secrets about the show’s 2020 reboot!
In 1992, Van Halen’s ‘Right Now’ peaked at number two on the rock charts. The song is about living in the moment and not being afraid of making a change, and the music video below for ‘Right Now’ reflected on events that were occurring at the time, both within the band and social issues in the world around them.
In 1997, The Wallflowers scored their first number one rock song when ‘One Headlight’ topped the Billboard Mainstream and Modern Rock charts. It also hit number one on the Adult Alternative Songs charts, making it the first song to hit number one on all three of those charts.
In 1996, Chris Farley gave us one of the greatest entrances to any late night talk show ever when he appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. It was vintage Farley! Man, we miss this guy so much… RIP Chris.
The ’90s gave us some awesome rock songs! Even though a lot of the bands who sang these songs weren’t around very long, these songs have stood the test of time. Here’s a look at WatchMojo’s top ten ’90s rock songs that you forgot were awesome:
Green Day are one of the most successful rock bands from the ’90s who are still scoring number one rock hits today. Back in 1994, they released their debut album ‘Dookie’, and the rock world was hooked on Green Day!
Their debut single ‘Longview’ hit number one on the Alt Rock charts, ‘Welcome to Paradise’ hit number seven, ‘Basket Case’ hit number one, and this song ‘When I Come Around’ also hit number one on the Alt Rock charts, and was their first huge hit worldwide landing in the top ten on numerous charts around the world.
Enjoy this look back at Green Day’s music video for their fourth overall single, and their third number one Alt Rock song, ‘When I Come Around’ from 1995!
In the ’90s, there were so many bands that seemed to only have one single. That one song would quickly receive airplay on the radio for a brief period, and if they were lucky, MTV would add their video to the mix for a while. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they would vanish never to be heard from again unless you were a diehard fan who went to their concerts or continued to buy their CD’s.
One of those bands was Boston’s Fuzzy, who came out of nowhere and released a damn good song called ‘Flashlight’, and if it weren’t for the music video being featured on MTV’s 120 Minutes, you probably would have never heard of them. And, to solidify how good this song was RollingStone released its list of the 50 Best Songs of the Nineties, and ‘Flashlight’ from Fuzzy was number 50 on their list. Check out this little piece of ’90s indie rock gold from Fuzzy with ‘Flashlight’!
Lauryn Hill’s debut solo single ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’ was released in 1998. The song was a huge hit worldwide, and became her first and only number one song on the Hot 100 charts. It also hit number two on the R&B charts, and was a top five hit in the UK as well.
The song won two Grammy Awards in 1999 for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. The music video below was filmed in Manhattan’s Washington Heights in New York City, and it features two Hills singing side by side at a block party. One Hill is set in 1967 dressed in retro-styled attire, and the other Hill is present-day Hill in 1998. It was a really cool idea and made for a very entertaining music video. Enjoy!
‘Creep’ was Radiohead’s debut single, and it remains their most successful single. The song was released on September 21, 1992, and peaked at #2 on the Alt Rock charts, #20 on the Mainstream Rock charts, and #34 on the Hot 100 charts.
In 1994, ‘Creep’ was featured in an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head, and this aided the song and band’s popularity in the U.S. Capitol Records, their label in the U.S. used Beavis and Butt-Head’s endorsement of the song in the episode in a marketing campaign with the slogan, “Beavis and Butt-Head Say Radiohead Don’t Suck.”
Check out the clip from Beavis and Butt-head below as well as the official music video for ‘Creep’ as well.
Rage Against the Machine released six albums during the ’90s. The last album they released in the ’90s was The Battle of Los Angeles, which was released in 1999. The first single released was Guerrilla Radio, and it became their only song to chart on the Hot 100, peaking at #69, and it was their first top ten song on the Alt Rock charts, peaking at number six. Rage also won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock performance for the song.
The promo video touches upon the exploitation of garment workers, and parodies the popular late ’90s Gap commercials. These ads featured attractive young people singing songs while against a white backdrop, wearing Gap clothing. The phrase “everybody in denial” was a play on “everybody in khaki” which was a Gap TV ad campaign at the time.
via Wikipedia
I remember watching this live when it happened in 1992. As Nirvana was finishing up their performance of Lithium during the MTV Video Music Awards, the band basically went nuts and started destroying their instruments, the speakers, and the finale was drummer Dave Grohl going up to the mic and saying, “Hi Axl, hi Axl, hi Axl, Where’s Axl?”
So, what was going on between Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses? iHeartRadio explains:
Despite Rose’s admiration for Nirvana (Rose wore a Nirvana hat in the video for “Don’t Cry”), he famously feuded with Kurt Cobain after the Nirvana front man repeatedly bashed GNR in the press. Cobain often referred to GNR as the antithesis of Nirvana, once saying “Rebellion is standing up to people like Guns N’ Roses.”
In 1992, Cobain refused an offer to open for GNR’s famous co-headlining tour with Metallica. Later in ’92, Rose got personal in return, referring to Cobain and Courtney Love as “f***in junkies,” suggesting that their daughter, Frances Bean, might be born with birth defects because of Love’s drug use. At the ’92 VMAs, members of GNR and Nirvana exchanged insults back stage.
After Nirvana performed “Lithium” that night, Dave Grohl mocked Rose by repeatedly saying “Hi, Axl” into a microphone. In any case, that was a long time ago. Any bad blood between Grohl and Rose is just history. Of course Grohl famously lent his Rock Throne to Rose when the GNR front man broke his foot during a tour.
via iheart.com
More than any decade in the last 40 years, the ’90s produced a plethora of one hit wonder bands who scored one major hit. And, many of the songs below in our list of the Top Ten One Hit Wonder Songs of the ’90s hit number one on the charts.
Watch the music videos below of our Top Ten One Hit Wonder Songs of the 90’s:
(10) Blind Melon – ‘No Rain’ 1992
(9) New Radicals – ‘You Get What You Give’ 1998
(8) Spacehog – ‘In The Meantime’ 1995
(7) The Rembrandts – ‘I’ll Be There For You’ 1994
(6) Natalie Imbruglia – ‘Torn’ 1997
(5) Eagle-Eye Cherry – ‘Save Tonight’ 1997
(4) OMC – ‘How Bizarre’ 1996
(3) Semisonic – ‘Closing Time’ 1996
(2) The Verve – ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ 1997
(1) House of Pain – ‘Jump Around’ 1992
From drug overdoses to mysterious circumstances, here’s a look at five celebrities from the 90’s who died way too soon!
Chris Farley
Chris Farley was one of our favorite actors from the 90’s. From Saturday Night Live to movies like Tommy Boy, Farley was a comic genius! Tragically, he died on December 18, 1997 at the young age of 33 from an overdose of cocaine and morphine, with advanced atherosclerosis cited as a contributing factor to his death.
Here’s a look back at some of Farley’s funniest moments on camera:
Aaliyah
Born January 16, 1979 in New York City, Aaliyah Dana Haughton was a beautiful and talented singer, model and actress who signed a record deal with Jive Records at 12 years old. Sadly, her career was cut short at the young age of 22 on August 25, 2001 when a private plane crashed in the Bahamas killing Aaliyah and eight others. During the 90’s and early 2000’s, she scored 12 top 40 songs on the Hot 100 charts including a number one in 2000 for Try Again.
Tupac (2Pac) Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in New York City on June 16, 1971. Many consider him to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. He’s certainly one of the greatest, if not the greatest rapper of the 90’s. Sadly, Tupac’s career was violently cut short when he was shot four times on September 7, 1996 by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He died six days later on September 13, 1996.
Shakur is one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 75 million records sold worldwide. Here’s a look at his music video for California Love featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman, his first number one song on the Hot 100 charts in 1996.
River Phoenix
River Phoenix first major role was playing the character Chris Chambers in 1986’s Stand By Me. Later that same year, he won the Young Artist Award for Best Young Male Superstar in Motion Pictures for his role as Charlie Fox in the movie The Mosquito Coast. In 1988 he was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his role of Danny Pope in Running on Empty.
During the 90’s, he starred in six motion pictures, and received a lot of accolades for his role of Mikey Waters in the independent film My Own Private Idaho. Sadly, drugs cut his life short when he collapsed outside of The Viper Room on the Sunset Strip from a drug overdose. He was only 23 years old.
Brittany Murphy
Brittany Murphy appeared in numerous films and TV shows and music videos during her career. Her first break-through performance was in 1995 when she starred alongside Alicia Silverstone and Stacey Dash in Clueless. She went on to star in numerous other movies throughout the 90’s and the 2000’s. Sadly, Murphy’s life was cut short at the age of 32. Officially, the cause of death was attributed to pneumonia and severe anemia.
For those of us who grew up in the 90’s, it was a decade we’ll never forget, and it was a decade that featured many things that changed the world forever. Here’s a look at 9 things that changed the world in the 90’s:
1. Grunge Rock
In the early 90’s, hair bands that had dominated the airwaves and MTV were dealt a crippling blow when grunge rock bands hit the scene. Almost overnight, Poison and Warrant’s songs and videos disappeared and were replaced with bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and perhaps the most notable grunge rock band of all time, Nirvana.
2. AOL
In the early to mid 90’s, it was all about AOL and hearing that awesome phrase, “You’ve Got Mail!” Kids today have no idea how cool it was to hear that phrase back then before the proliferation of email spam. When you heard that phrase, you couldn’t wait to see who sent you an email… but, before you could hear the infamous “You’ve Got Mail”, you had to endure what became the most gut-wrenching sound of all time, the AOL sign on dial-up tone! How many of us either yelled this or heard someone yell it at us, “Hey, get off the phone, I need to get online!!!”
3. Titanic
I can still remember watching Titanic in the theatre for the first time in 1997. The movie was one of the biggest hits of all time, and countless movies, TV shows and comedy skits have referenced both the movie and it’s characters in the years since. Not to mention all the couples who have tried to recreate the “I’m flying!” scene featuring Jack and Rose aka Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet! And, for better or worse depending on your taste in music, the soundtrack made Celine Dion a megastar!
4. Boy Bands
In the late 80’s, the New Kids on the Block and New Edition paved the way for boy bands like N’ Sync, the Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, Take That and Westlife to experience incredible success in the 90’s! You couldn’t turn on MTV in the 90’s without seeing a music video from one of the many boy bands. Love ’em or hate ’em, there’s no denying the influence 90’s boy bands had on the world in the 90’s!
5. Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-Head aired on MTV from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997. (14 years later, the series was revived for season eight with aired from October 27 to December 29, 2011).
Few “cartoons” have had the impact on society like Beavis and Butt-Head. From Beavis’ infatuation with “Fire! Fire!” to both of them chuckling when they hear words or phrases that could vaguely be interpreted as sexual. It was crude, rude, strange and above all pretty darn funny to most 90’s teens!
6. Beanie Babies
If you grew were a kid in the 90’s, then there’s a really good chance you had a Beanie Baby, or two or three or a whole gaggle of them! (Like many of us who either gave them away or sold them at garage sales years ago, I’m sure you’re wishing you had held on to a few of them. Today, certain Beanie Babies are worth a ton of money! Check out the screenshot below of a rare Princess Diana Beanie Baby from 1997 on sale on ebay for $25,000! (But at least shipping is free!)
7. John Madden Football
Few video games have had the impact on popular culture like John Madden Football, and in the 90’s, the game had few rivals. In 1993, Madden NFL ’94 was released, and it was the first game in the series to feature an official NFL team license. And, the next year, the NFL Players Association licensed the game, and that’s when the game really became fun. Now, you could not only choose your favorite team, but you could also choose your favorite player by name!
8. The Macarena
In 1995, Los Del Rio released Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix) as a single, and it quickly became an international hit topping the charts in almost every country in the world. It finished at #2 on Billboards decade-end charts for the 90’s, and #8 on Billboards Hot 100 all-time charts. It was also ranked the #1 greatest one-hit wonder of all time by VH1 in 2002.
But, more than the song, the Macarena dance move has become a staple at dance parties and wedding receptions worldwide ever since. This 90’s song and dance truly changed the world forever!
9. Chris Farley
When we think of 90’s, we think of Chris Farley and all the hilarious characters he played. Two of our all time favorite characters were Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker and of course the lovable idiot Tommy Boy! I’ve watched Farley’s ‘Van Down By The River’ SNL skit a million times, and it still makes me laugh every time. And, I still quote lines from Tommy Boy all the time! Tragically, Farley was found dead in his apartment by his brother John on December 18, 1997. RIP Chris…
In 1998, Everlast scored his first and only number one song on both the Alt rock and Mainstream rock charts with ‘What It’s Like’. The song also peaked at number 13 on the Hot 100 charts. Everlast is also the front-man for House Of Pain, who scored a huge hit in 1992 with ‘Jump Around’!