page_title: 1990s in music
section_title: Pop
hierarchical_section_title: 1990s in music / Europe / Pop
caption_attribution_description: English: Robbie Williams
context_page_description: Popular music in the 1990s saw the continuation of teen pop and dance-pop trends which had emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. Furthermore, hip hop grew and continued to be highly successful in the decade, with the continuation of the genre's golden age. Aside from rap, reggae, contemporary R&B and urban music in general remained extremely popular throughout the decade; urban music in the late-1980s and 1990s often blended with styles such as soul, funk and jazz, resulting in fusion genres such as new jack swing, neo-soul, hip hop soul and g-funk which were popular.
  Similarly to the 1980s, rock music was also very popular in the 1990s, yet, unlike the new wave and glam metal-dominated scene of the time, grunge, Britpop, industrial rock and other alternative rock music emerged and took over as the most popular of the decade, as well as punk rock, ska punk and nu metal, amongst others, which attained a high level of success at different points throughout the years.
context_section_description: Pop music and dance music became popular throughout the 1990s. Popular European pop artists of the 1990s included Seal, M People, 2 Unlimited, and Ace of Base.
  During the 1990s, some European managers created their own boy band acts, beginning with Nigel Martin-Smith's Take That and East 17, which competed with Louis Walsh's Irish bands Westlife and Boyzone. In 1996, the male saturated market was turned on its head by one of the most successful and influential pop acts of the decade, the Spice Girls. The group achieve nine number 1 singles in the UK and US, including "Wannabe", "2 Become 1" and "Spice Up Your Life". The group, unlike their British boy band predecessors, manage to break America and achieve the best-selling album of 1997 in the USA. More Girl Groups begin to emerge such as All Saints, who had five number 1 hits in the UK and two multi-platinum albums. By the end of the century the grip of boy bands on the charts was faltering, but proved the basis for solo careers like that of Robbie Williams, formerly of Take That, who achieved six number one singles in the UK between 1998 and 2004. Additional popular European teen pop acts of the 1990s included Ace of Base, Aqua and A*Teens.
  Ballad songs were popular during this decade, and popular European artists included George Michael, Robert Palmer, Sade, Sinéad O'Connor, The Cranberries, Lisa Stansfield and Roxette. Danish pop band Michael Learns to Rock, fronted by singer/songwriter/keyboardist Jascha Richter, were well known for their ballads such as "The Actor", "Sleeping Child", "That's Why (You Go Away)", and "Paint My Love".
  In the summer of 1996, the Spanish music duo Los del Río popularized the dance craze "Macarena" with their summer hit "Macarena". The song was featured prominently in many other countries during the mid-1990s.
caption: Robbie Williams, 2009
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