1991 in music
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| Related time period or subjects |
| … 1988 . 1989 . 1990 – 1991 –
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| Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Science . more… |
See also:
- 1991 in music (UK)
- Musical groups established in 1991
- Record labels established in 1991
Events
1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", became the most popular U.S. album of the year. Followed immediately by other grunge bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, grunge dominated the U.S. charts for the next few years. Its success effectively ended pop-oriented, 1980s glam metal groups like Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Poison and Ratt, whose sales and critical viability were beginning to decline for about two years previously. (Oddly, the rock band Guns N' Roses's popularity flourished. Van Halen also seemed to continue with their popularity throughout 1991.) Grunge also ended Los Angeles' status as the city for rock music stardom, and established Seattle as such.
A Tribe Called Quest's Low End
Theory was released this year; it would go on to be considered one of the best
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury died at home in London on November 24, due to AIDS complications. Rumors had been circulating that Mercury had AIDS, but the death came as a shock to millions of fans and the music industry. The remaining members of Queen formed the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the following year, a tribute concert was staged in Wembley Stadium. A sell-out crowd in attendance witnessed the three surviving members reuniting to play along with performances by the likes of David Bowie, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Metallica and George Michael.
Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody goes to number one for the second time, which is the first and only time a single has gone to number one in the same version more than once. It was also the first and only time a single has gone to number one more than once on the UK Christmas charts. It has now spent a total of 14 weeks on the UK charts.
1991 was also the year CCM, or contemporary Christian music, reached a new peak. Amy Grant, who had already crossed back and forth between CCM and pop in the mid-80s, achieved her (and CCM's) first #1 hit on the pop charts with the hit single "Baby Baby." Another single, "That's What Love Is For," would also top the charts, this time in the Adult Contemporary field. Meanwhile, Grant's album Heart In Motion reaches #10 on the pop chart and #1 on the Christian chart despite its non-religious objective, and quickly become a best-seller. Another CCM crossover artist in 1991 is Michael W. Smith, who achieves a Top Ten pop hit with his single "Place In This World." The subsequent album, Go West Young Man, is also a hit.
The massive success of Garth Brooks in this year sets the stage for the
mid-1990s influx of pop-oriented country musicians. In
addition, several soon-to-be pivotal bands form or release debuts, including future pioneers in riot
grrl punk (Bikini Kill, Bratmobile,
Huggy Bear), jam bands (moe.,
Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Spin Doctors) and stoner metal (Kyuss,
Sleep, The Obsessed). Massive Attack's Blue Lines, while unique at the time,
invented the sound that would eventually become known as trip hop. Entombed's Clandestine and Dismember's Like an Ever Flowing Stream are
early releases from the Scandinavian metal scene. On the other side of the
Atlantic, New York death metal band Suffocation release their debut full-length
Effigy of the Forgotten, often considered one of the most influential extreme
metal albums ever recorded. Trance music rises to prominence in the underground dance scene
of Frankfurt, Germany, pioneered by such producers as Dance 2
Trance and Resistance D.
- Goo Goo Dolls release their first official single, There You Are
- January 18 - Three people are crushed to death during an AC/DC concert in Salt Lake City, Utah when audience members rushed the stage.
- February 27 - James Brown is granted an early parole and released from jail. Brown had been arrested after leading Police on a high speed chase through two states in 1989. Pop Will Eat Itself documented the affair with their song, "Not Now James, We're Busy".
- February 28 - Hollywood, California's Record Plant Studios recording studio closes its doors. Among the albums recorded at the Record Plant were The Eagles' Hotel California, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life
- March 11 - Janet Jackson signs a $30 million (US) contract with Virgin Records, making her the highest paid female recording artist ever.
- March 16 - Seven members of country music singer Reba McEntire's band and her road manager are killed when their private plane crashes in California, near the U.S.-Mexico border. McEntire travels on a separate plane.
- March 20
- Michael Jackson signs a $1 billion contract with Sony.
- Eric Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, dies after falling 53 stories from a New York City apartment window. (The death of his son would inspire Clapton to write "Tears in Heaven".)
- March 24 - The Black Crowes are dropped as the opening act of ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly insulting the tour's sponsor, Miller Beer.
- March 27 - New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg is arrested in Louisville, Kentucky for allegedly setting his hotel room on fire.
- March 28 - George Harrison, Phil Collins and others attend funeral services for Eric Clapton's late son, Conor.
- April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael Noonan O'Keefe in New York.
- May 7 - In Macon, Georgia, a judge dismisses a wrongful death lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne. The suit was filed by a local couple that believed their son was inspired to attempt suicide by Osbourne's music.
- May 10 - Truth or Dare, a documentary chronicling singer Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, is released to theatres.
- June 18- Van Halen releases their ninth album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, spawing the huge ballad hit Right Now and the Top Billboard 30 hit "Top of the World"
- July - Launch of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.
- August 13 - Metallica releases their most successful album, "Metallica" (also called "The Black Album"). This album is somewhat of a departure from the thrash metal sound they helped pioneer. It is one of the best selling albums of all time[1]
- August 27 - Dr. Dre pleads no contest to charges that he beat up a woman at a West Hollywood nightclub. Dr. Dre is sentenced to 24 months probation.
- September 17 - Guns N' Roses release the highly anticipated albums Use Your Illusion I & II which debut at the two highest spots on the Billboard 200, the first such feat for a rock act. The albums went on to sell 7 million copies each and spawned the most expensive music videos ever made and a very controversy-laden multi-year world tour.
- September 24 - Nirvana releases Nevermind, debuting at #144 on the Billboard 200. Red Hot Chili Peppers release their 5th album Blood Sugar Sex Magik and A Tribe Called Quest release their 2nd album The Low End Theory on the same day.
- Tupac Shakur's solo career begins with his first album, 2Pacalypse Now, however it does not do well. 6 year old Qa'id Walker is shot dead by a stray bullet during a confrontation between Tupac's entourage and a rival group.
- October 25 - Steely Dan spontaneously reunites
- Whitney Houston sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl. The recording is then released and becomes a hit single.
- Britney Spears appears on Star Search
- Country music legend Kenny Rogers starts his restaurant chain, "Kenny Rogers Roasters," serving up tasty chicken.
- Perry Farrell organizes the first Lollapalooza tour as a farewell for his just-dissolved band, Jane's Addiction
- Nas joins Main Source
The Pharcyde signs to Delicious Vinyl, their first label- The original surviving members of Bill Haley and His Comets from the 1950s reunite for a European concert tour, and soon after resume regular touring and recording engagements that continue as of 2005.
Bands formed
- 2 Unlimited
- AFI
- Bratmobile
- Burzum*
- Candlebox
- The Clientele
- Cracker
- Cradle of Filth
- Dave Matthews Band
Digable Planets - Glue Gun (under Glü Gun)
- HIM
- Huggy Bear
- Incubus
- Jodeci
- Katatonia
- Kris Kross
- L'Arc~en~Ciel
- Leftfield
- Local H
- Love Battery
- moe.
- Oasis
- OutKast
- Ostava
- Paralysed Age
- Phunk Junkeez
- Radiohead
- Rage Against the Machine
- Rancid
- Shakira
- Stabbing Westward
- TLC (with the exception of Rozonda Thomas)
- Tori Amos
- Vertical Horizon
- Zard
Bands disbanded
- Bronski Beat
- Bros
- Devo
- Fields of the Nephilim
- Furniture
- Galaxie 500
- Jane's Addiction
- The La's
- Mantronix
- The Men They Couldn't Hang
- Moev
- This Mortal Coil
- N.W.A.
- The Primitives
- The Replacements
- Talk Talk
- Talking Heads
- Transvision Vamp
- Wang Chung
Albums released
- 2Pacalypse Now - 2Pac
- Derelicts of Dialect - 3rd Bass
- Spellbound - Paula Abdul
- Waking Up the Neighbours - Bryan Adams
- Ascension - The Aints
- Gülümse - Sezen Aksu
- Greatest Hits Volume 1 - Anal Cunt
- Whispers - Thomas Anders
- Coolin' At The Playground Ya Know - Another Bad Creation
- Attack of the Killer B's - Anthrax
- Blood for Blood - Aria
- Cry For Help - Rick Astley
- To Mother - Babes in Toyland
- '80-'85 - Bad Religion
- Pop Life - Bananarama
- Beckology (box set compilation) - Jeff Beck
- True Love -
Pat Benatar - The Globe - Big Audio Dynamite II
- Prince of Darkness - Big Daddy Kane
- Midnight Radio - Big Head Todd & the Monsters
- Revolution Girl Style Now - Bikini Kill
- I Need a Haircut -
Biz Markie - Travelers and Thieves - Blues Traveler
- Leisure - Blur
- War Master - Bolt Thrower
- Vodou Adjae - Boukman Eksperyans
- 8 Duets: Hamburg 1991 - Anthony Braxton
- Ropin' the Wind - Garth Brooks
- Star Time - James Brown
- Space I'm In - The Candyskins (debut)
- Butchered at Birth - Cannibal Corpse
- Emotions - Mariah Carey
- Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious - Carcass
- Reflexive Universe - C.C.C.C.
- Chagall Guevara - Chagall Guevara
- Whirlpool - Chapterhouse
- Don't Fear the Reaper (EP) - Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch
- Nothing but a Burning Light - Bruce Cockburn
- Marc Cohn - Marc Cohn
- Love's Secret Domain - Coil
- C.M.B. - Color Me Badd
- String Of Pearls - Deborah Conway
- Hey Stoopid - Alice Cooper
- Mighty Like a Rose - Elvis Costello
- The Ghosts That Haunt Me - Crash Test Dummies
- Ceremony - The Cult
- Entreat - The Cure
- Island - Current 93 with HÖH
- This Is Not The Way Home - The Cruel Sea
- Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
- 85-86 - Dag Nasty
- Italia Mia - Dalida
- Les Années Barlay (1956-1970) - Dalida
- Blwch Tymer Tymor - Datblygu
- Human - Death
- Water (EP) - Def FX
- De La Soul Is Dead - De La Soul
- I Wish My Brother George Was Here - Del tha Funkee Homosapien
- Kaira - Toumani Diabaté
- Liebe ist... 2 - Die Flippers
- Träume einer Nacht - Die Flippers
- I - Die Krupps
- Green Mind - Dinosaur Jr.
- On Every Street - Dire Straits
- Open Doors, Closed Windows - Disco Inferno
- Like an Ever Flowing Stream - Dismember
- Divinyls - Divinyls
- Homebase - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
- Vinyl - Dramarama
- 5,000,000 - Dread Zeppelin
- And Now the Legacy Begins - Dream Warriors
- Ex:El - 808 State
- Electronic - Electronic
- Schubert Dip - EMF
- Clandestine - Entombed
- Chorus - Erasure
- Into the Light - Gloria Estefan
- Prisoners in Paradise - Europe
- Shift-Work - The Fall
- L'Autre... - Mylène Farmer
- Time for a Witness - The Feelies
- The Reality of My Surroundings - Fishbone
- Believing in Better - Lennie Gallant
- Step in the Arena - Gang Starr
- We Can't Dance - Genesis
- Mo' Ritmo - Gerardo
- João - João Gilberto
- Infrared Roses - Grateful Dead
- Heart In Motion - Amy Grant
- Hooked - Great White
- Use Your Illusion I - Guns N' Roses
- Use Your Illusion II - Guns N' Roses
- Masturbatorium - The Hafler Trio
- Live -
Happy Mondays - Yummy! - Hard-Ons
- Havana 3am - Havana 3am
- Pretty on the Inside - Hole
- I'm On Your Side - Jennifer Holliday
- O.G. Original Gangster - Ice-T
- Iced Earth - Iced Earth (debut)
- The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves - The Infectious Grooves
- X - INXS
- Nada dan Dakwah - Rhoma Irama
- Dangerous - Michael Jackson
- Grippe - Jawbox
- Doubt - Jesus Jones
- Catfish Rising - Jethro Tull
- Page of Life - Jon & Vangelis
- Amen - Salif Keita
- Face the Nation - Kid 'n Play
- The White Room - The KLF
- Funke, Funke Wisdom - Kool Moe Dee
- Wretch - Kyuss
- Smell the Magic - L7
- The La's - The La's (debut, final album)
- LaTour - LaTour
- A Little Ain't Enough - David Lee Roth
- Future Without a Past - Leaders of the New School
- V - Legião Urbana
- Guaranteed - Level 42
- Biscuits (EP) - Living Colour
- Buena Suerte - Los Rodrígues
- San Antorium - Lowlife
- Shotgun Wedding - Lydia Lunch and Rowland S. Howard
- Geetan Bhari Patari - Gurdas Maan
- It's... Madness Too - Madness
- Distant Plastic Trees - The Magnetic Fields
- The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection - Yngwie J. Malmsteen (compilation)
- Blue Lines - Massive Attack
- International Pop Overthrow - Material Issue
- Solace - Sarah McLachlan
- Clown Heaven and Hell - Me Mom & Morgentaler
- Bullhead - Melvins
- Eggnog - Melvins
- Kindala - Margareth Menezes
- Daniela Mercury - Daniela Mercury
- Yerself Is Steam - Mercury Rev
- We Are Here - Mescalinum United
- The Human Factor - Metal Church
- Metallica - Metallica
- Mind Funk - Mind Funk
- Let's Get To It - Kylie Minogue
- Madra - Miranda Sex Garden
- Spine of God - Monster Magnet
- Lean Into It - Mr. Big
- Blessed are the Sick - Morbid Angel
- The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Hymns Of Faith - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
- Hymns to the Silence - Van Morrison
- Kill Uncle - Morrissey
- 1916 - Motörhead
- Hoodoo - Alison Moyet
- Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
- Sexplosion! - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
- 13-Point Program to Destroy America - Nation of Ulysses
- God Fodder - Ned's Atomic Dustbin
- Day 1 - Robbie Nevil
- Boys Will Be Boyz - Newsboys
- Places I Have Never Been - Willie Nile
- Nevermind - Nirvana
- Niggaz4life - N.W.A.
- Ribbed - NOFX
- Lunar Womb - The Obsessed
- The Orb's Adventures Beneath the Overworld - The Orb
- Orbital (The Green Album) - Orbital
- Horrorscope - Overkill
- No More Tears - Ozzy Osbourne
- Ten - Pearl Jam
- Pennywise - Pennywise
- Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- A Picture of Nectar - Phish
- Lawn Boy - Phish
- Positively Phranc - Phranc
- Trompe le Monde - Pixies
- Swallow This Live - Poison
- Pure Poverty - Poor Righteous Teachers
- Screamadelica - Primal Scream
- Sailing the Seas of Cheese - Primus
- Diamonds and Pearls - Prince
- The Missing Years - John Prine
- Grandes Exitos - Los Prisioneros
- World Outside - The Psychedelic Furs
- Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black - Public Enemy
- Luck of the Draw - Bonnie Raitt
- Innuendo - Queen
- Out of Time - R.E.M.
- Ratt N' Roll 8191 - Ratt
- Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Harmony Ranch - Riders in the Sky
- Saints and Sinners - Kane Roberts
- Born Suspect - Chris Rock
- Horrorific Atrocities - Rotting Flesh
- Joyride - Roxette
- Roll The Bones - Rush
- Foxbase Alpha - Saint Etienne
- Heartbeat - Ryuichi Sakamoto
- Streets: A Rock Opera - Savatage
- Scamboogery - Scatterbrain
- School of Fish - School of Fish
- Uncle Anesthesia - Screaming Trees
- Seal - Seal
- Arise - Sepultura
- Magia - Shakira
- Hilang Permataku - Yuni Shara
- Ask the Ages - Sonny Sharrock
- Real Life - Simple Minds
- Superstition - Siouxsie & the Banshees
- Slave to the Grind - Skid Row
- 1,000 Smiling Knuckles - Skin Yard
- Wayward Sons of Mother Earth - Skyclad
- Suit suit...hehehe - Slank
- Volume One - Sleep
- Spiderland - Slint
Gish - The Smashing Pumpkins- Blow Up - The Smithereens
- Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell - Social Distortion
- Qui Sème le Vent Récolte le Tempo - MC Solaar
- Badmotorfinger - Soundgarden
- Pocket Full of Kryptonite - Spin Doctors
- Go Figure - Spirit of the West
- The Soul Cages - Sting
- Jah Won't Pay the Bills - Sublime (debut, independent demo cassette)
- At The Village Vanguard - Sun Ra Sextet
- No Pocky for Kitty - Superchunk
- Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91) - Superchunk
- Effigy of The Forgotten - Suffocation
- Mistaken Identity - Donna Summer
- Overspill - Sun Dial
- By Heart - Brenda K. Starr
- Keep It Comin' - Keith Sweat
- Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
- Raise - Swervedriver
- Laughing Stock - Talk Talk
- The Tea Party - The Tea Party
- Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog (debut, final album)
- Milestone - The Temptations
- Psychotic Supper - Tesla
- Babyteeth - Therapy?
- Miscellaneous T - They Might Be Giants
- Violent Impression - This Picture
- The Real Ramona - Throwing Muses
- Everybody's Angel - Tanita Tikaram
- Tin Machine II - Tin Machine
- fear - Toad the Wet Sprocket
- Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble - Transvision Vamp (final album)
- The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
- Boss of the Bass - Jamaaladeen Tacuma
- Slow, Deep and Hard - Type O Negative
- As Ugly As They Want To Be - Ugly kid Joe
- Unsane - Unsane
- Achtung Baby -
U2 - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge - Van Halen
- The Comfort Zone - Vanessa Williams
- Circuladô - Caetano Veloso
- Vital Signs 2 - Vital Signs
- Why Do Birds Sing? - Violent Femmes
- Honey Lingers - Voice of the Beehive
- Warfaze - Warfaze
- The Pod - Ween
- Widespread Panic - Widespread Panic
- Love Wars - Womack & Womack
- In Celebration of Life - Yanni
- Baby - Yello
- Play Kurt Weill - The Young Gods
- The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life - Frank Zappa
- Good-bye My Loneliness - Zard
- Mō Sagasanai - Zard
- Mr. Bad Example - Warren Zevon
Biggest hit singles
The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in 1991.
| # | Artist | Title | Year | Country | Chart Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryan Adams | (Everything I Do) I Do it For You | 1991 | UK 1 - Jun 1991, US BB 1 of 1991, US BB 3 of 1991, US CashBox 1 of 1991, Holland 1 - Jul 1991, Sweden 1 - Aug 1991, Austria 1 - Aug 1991, Switzerland 1 - Jul 1991, Norway 1 - Jul 1991, Australia 3 of 1991, Germany 9 of the 1990s, Germany 1 - Jan 1992, Éire 1 - Jul 1991, New Zealand 1 for 8 weeks Aug 1991, Australia 1 for 11 weeks Oct 1991, Europe 5 of the 1990s, Belgium 150 of all time, Global 7 (10 M sold) - 1991, TOTP 6, Virgin 60, RYM 73 of 1991, POP 3 of 1991, Scrobulate 30 of ballad, OzNet 121, Party 70 of 2007 | |
| 2 | Michael Jackson | Black Or White | 1991 | UK 1 - Nov 1991, US BB 1 of 1991, US BB 19 of 1991, US CashBox 29 of 1992, Holland 3 - Nov 1991, Sweden 1 - Nov 1991, Austria 2 - Nov 1991, Switzerland 1 - Nov 1991, Norway 1 - Nov 1991, Australia 24 of 1992, Germany 115 of the 1990s, Germany 2 - Jan 1992, Éire 1 - Nov 1991, New Zealand 1 for 8 weeks Nov 1991, Australia 1 for 8 weeks Feb 1992, RYM 96 of 1991, POP 19 of 1991 | |
| 3 | Roxette | Joyride | 1991 | UK 4 - Mar 1991, US BB 1 of 1991, US BB 35 of 1991, US CashBox 33 of 1991, Holland 1 - Mar 1991, Sweden 1 - Mar 1991, France 7 - Apr 1991, Austria 1 - Mar 1991, Switzerland 1 - Mar 1991, Norway 1 - Mar 1991, Australia 13 of 1991, Germany 24 of the 1990s, Germany 1 - Mar 1991, Australia 1 for 3 weeks Jul 1991, POP 37 of 1991 | |
| 4 | The Scorpions | Wind of Change | 1991 | UK 2 - Sep 1991, US BB 4 of 1991, US BB 24 of 1991, Holland 1 - Apr 1991, Sweden 1 - Mar 1991, France 10 - Dec 1990, Austria 1 - Jun 1991, Switzerland 1 - Feb 1991, Norway 1 - Apr 1991, Germany 1 of the 1990s, Germany 1 - Apr 1991, Europe 26 of the 1990s, RYM 142 of 1990, POP 26 of 1991, Scrobulate 9 of ballad | |
| 5 | Right Said Fred | I'm Too Sexy | 1991 | UK 2 - Jul 1991, US BB 1 of 1992, US BB 8 of 1992, Holland 20 - Sep 1991, France 10 - Aug 1991, Austria 2 - Nov 1991, Norway 2 - Sep 1991, Australia 20 of 1991, Germany 15 - Mar 1992, Éire 1 - Oct 1991, New Zealand 1 for 1 weeks Jan 1992, Australia 1 for 3 weeks Feb 1992, RYM 80 of 1991, POP 2 of 1992, Scrobulate 27 of funny, Party 124 of 2007 |
Top hits
- "Alive" - Pearl Jam
- "All The Man That I Need" - Whitney Houston
- "American Music" - The Violent Femmes
- "Baby Baby" - Amy Grant
- "Black Or White" - Michael Jackson
- "Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are the Days of Our Lives" - Queen
- "Bring The Noise" - Public Enemy and Anthrax
- "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" - Bryan Adams
- "Can't Let Go" - Mariah Carey
- "Chorus" - Erasure
- "Close My Eyes" - Marillion
- "Coming Out of the Dark" - Gloria Estefan
- "Désenchantée" - Mylène Farmer
- "Do You Remember" - Phil Collins
- "Do Anything" - Natural Selection
- "