Number ones
- Key
- ♪ – Number-one single of the year
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| Billboard Hot 100 & Best Sellers in Stores number-one singles by decade |
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| Before August 1958 |
| After August 1958 |
The Billboard Hot 100 is the main song chart of the American music industry and is updated every week by the Billboard magazine. During the 1990s the chart was based collectively on each single's weekly physical sales figures and airplay on American radio stations.
The methodology for determining sales and airplay figures drastically changed with the chart dated November 30, 1991. Instead of surveying retail stores and radio stations, sales data was now gathered by Soundscan via a collection of the number of barcode scans a record received while airplay was to be compiled by Broadcast Data Systems, which continuously monitored what songs were being played on radio. [1] As the decade progressed, a growing trend in the music industry was to promote songs to radio without the release of a commercially available singles in an attempt by record companies to boost albums sales. Because such a release was required to chart on the Hot 100, many popular songs that were hits on top 40 radio never made it onto the chart. Beginning December 5, 1998, the Hot 100 changed from being a "singles" chart to a "songs" chart. [2] Not only did Billboard start allowing airplay-only tracks to chart, it broadened its radio panel to include "R&B, adult R&B, mainstream rock, triple-A rock, and country outlets", which was formerly "confined to the mainstream top 40, rhythmic top 40, adult top 40, adult contemporary, and modern rock formats." [3]
"Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins began the 1990s in the number-one position, spending the first two weeks of the decade on top, but its first week at number one was on the chart dated December 23, 1989. Santana's "Smooth" featuring Rob Thomas finished the decade and began the next with a 12-week run atop the Hot 100.
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The following artists achieved three or more number-one hits during the 1990s. [8] A number of artists had number-one singles on their own as well as part of a collaboration.
| Artist | Number-one hits |
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| Mariah Carey | 14 |
| Janet Jackson | 6 |
| Boyz II Men | 5 |
| Madonna | 4 |
| Whitney Houston | 4 |
| Celine Dion | 4 |
| TLC | 4 |
| Wilson Phillips | 3 |
| Paula Abdul | 3 |
| Bryan Adams | 3 |
| Puff Daddy | 3 |
| Monica | 3 |
The following artists were featured in top of the chart for the highest total number of weeks during the 1990s.
| Artist | Weeks at number-one |
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| Mariah Carey | 60 |
| Boyz II Men | 50 |
| Monica | 22 |
| Puff Daddy | 19 |
| TLC | 18 |
| Whitney Houston | 18 |
| Janet Jackson | 17 |
| Céline Dion | 17 |
| Brandy | 15 |
| Bryan Adams | 15 |
| Elton John | 15 |
The following songs were featured in top of the chart for the highest total number of weeks during the 1990s.
| Weeks at number one | Song | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | "One Sweet Day" | Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men |
| 14 | "I Will Always Love You" | Whitney Houston |
| "I'll Make Love To You" | Boyz II Men | |
| "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" | Los Del Rio | |
| "Candle in the Wind 1997 / Something About the Way You Look Tonight" | Elton John | |
| 13 | "End of the Road" | Boyz II Men |
| "The Boy Is Mine" | Brandy & Monica | |
| 11 | "I Swear" | All-4-One |
| "Un-Break My Heart" | Toni Braxton | |
| "I'll Be Missing You" | Puff Daddy & Faith Evans ft. 112 |