Ranked by Billboard Year-End Hot 100 chart performance.
L.A. Reid and Babyface dominated the top 100 songs in 1990 top list. They wrote and produced hits for Bobby Brown (“On Our Own”), Karyn White (“The Way You Love Me”), and Johnny Gill (“Rub You the Right Way”). Their new jack swing sound was the bridge between 80s R&B and 90s hip-hop soul. top 100 songs in 1990 top
This blues-rock track about the mystique of Elvis Presley (and the South) was a slow-burn hit. Alannah Myles’ smoky voice and the slide guitar made “Black Velvet” a staple of classic rock radio that refuses to fade away. Ranked by Billboard Year-End Hot 100 chart performance
If one song defines the absurdity and charm of 1990, it is Wilson Phillips’ "Hold On" —the #1 song of the year. The harmonies of Carnie and Wendy Wilson (daughters of Beach Boy Brian) and Chynna Phillips (daughter of Mamas & the Papas’ John) were a genetic throwback to California sunshine. Yet, the song was an anthem of codependency and survival. They wrote and produced hits for Bobby Brown
"Hold On" is a masterpiece of lyrical vagueness ("I know that there is pain / But you hold on for one more day"). It wasn't a song about a specific love; it was a song about staying alive. In a pre-grunge world, this was the most radical message on the radio. It sat at #1 for a month. Right behind it? The gothic, reverb-drenched "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette, a song about a crumbling Christmas romance. 1990 was obsessed with the aftermath of passion.