# 25 years later: well-known songs from the 1990's, 2000's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349 "2013-04-10T19:29:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/61 "2013-04-12T23:54:57Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’m sorry, but this is wrong. The late 90s/early 2000s was the swan song of bands/singers with massive mainstream appeal. Shania Twain, Alanis Morisette, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion all sold at least 20 million copies of their biggest albums in the US. Worldwide, each is over 40 million copies sold. Ah, Mariah Carey, forgot about her. But I wasn’t referring to album sales for good reason. Album sales are down not because the music industry is splintered, but because the industry has changed due to the internet. But that point has been made by other posters. What I was referring to was true pop stars, as opposed to R&B stars, country stars, hip hop stars, rock stars. The 90s saw an extremely splintered music scene, whereas the 00s saw the return of crossover pop music. And unlike the 90s(except for Mariah Carey), this decade has seen stars with longevity, whereas nearly all of the acts that hit it big in the 90s have disappeared from the charts, although there could be a few other exceptions I hadn’t thought of. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/62 "2013-04-13T00:10:45Z")
Lisa Loeb - Stay Counting Crows - Mr. Jones Proclaimers - 500 Miles The Rembrandts - I’ll Be There For You All will still be big sing alongs in a couple decades. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/63 "2013-04-13T01:13:14Z")
Not as hot, but [still famous 26 years later](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ). ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/64 "2013-04-13T20:16:40Z")
HAH! That link turned up grey and I was wondering - hmmm… **Orcenio** linked a song that I’ve seen on youtube… from the mid 80’s… I wonder… ::shrug:: ::click:: GAH!!! well played. As for the bias debate, “universality” is a hard thing to peg. Alanis Morissette certainly doesn’t fit the bill though. I try to keep things in perspective by asking myself if I would know it, the generation above me (parents) and the generation below me (sister, kids I tutor, etc) would know. Bieber fits the bill. Not quite Michael Jackson status but we’ll probably never have another MJ. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/65 "2013-04-14T01:26:50Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > **Orcenio** linked a song that I’ve seen on youtube… from the mid 80’s… I wonder… ::shrug:: ::click:: GAH!!! well played. It gets even worse. I googled the characters of the YouTube link and it shows up in the typeahead box. I’m pretty sure that few other videos do that so I knew what it was just because it appeared as a frequent search. So, then I allowed myself to complete the Google search, which of course puts a link to the video with a preview at the top of the results :smack: (consolling myself that it was silent and not moving.) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/66 "2013-04-14T09:35:37Z")
Maybe it’s just personal bias but I believe **Ace of Base - The Sign** is always going to be a big hit and karaoke favorite, and one that most people are going to know the lyrics of the chorus to and be able to sing along, even in the year 2025. It’s in enough movie soundtracks and such that I think it’s fairly ubiquitous. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/67 "2013-04-14T15:29:43Z")
Lots of good mentions so far. All will be well known 20 years from now. I suspect “Hey Ya!” will be well known fifty or sixty years from now. For fun, watch Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake do their “History of Rap” routines. The audience, which is heavily whitebread, is singing and clapping along joyously to all the songs - even ones that were already over a decade old by the time they did the routine. A LOT of hip hop is going to last a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/68 "2013-04-14T22:18:29Z")
How about [“Crazy”](http://youtu.be/bd2B6SjMh_w) by Gnarls Barkley? According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_%28Gnarls_Barkley_song%29), it was top or near-top of the charts all around the world. > [@](#): > > Australia (ARIA) 2 > Austrian Singles Chart 1 > Belgian Singles Chart 3 > Czech Republic (IFPI)[47] 21 > European Hot 100 1 > French Singles Chart 3 > German Singles Chart 3 > Hungarian Singles Chart 1 > Irish Singles Chart 1 > Italy (FIMI) 2 > Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 3 > New Zealand (RIANZ) 1 > Norwegian Singles Chart 2 > Slovakia (IFPI)[48] 27 > Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 4 > Swiss Singles Chart 1 > UK Singles Chart 1 > US Billboard Hot 100 2 > US Pop Songs (Billboard) 6 > US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[49] 7 > US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) 53 > US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard) 23 > US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard) 1 > US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) 7 > US Jazz Songs (Billboard) 27 ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/69 "2013-04-16T14:02:26Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It gets even worse. I googled the characters of the YouTube link and it shows up in the typeahead box. I’m pretty sure that few other videos do that so I knew what it was just because it appeared as a frequent search. So, then I allowed myself to complete the Google search, which of course puts a link to the video with a preview at the top of the results :smack: (consolling myself that it was silent and not moving.) I bet you’re the type of guy who puts on two condoms. :p:D ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/70 "2013-04-16T14:16:47Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > How about [“Crazy”](http://youtu.be/bd2B6SjMh_w) by Gnarls Barkley? Oh, absolutely on that one. That’s one of the ones I mentioned in post #26, but I didn’t say by whom and it would have gotten lost in a wall of text. There’s plenty of great songs from the 90s and 00s that will survive. I’m surprised we have to name them one by one. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/71 "2013-04-16T14:41:25Z")
Of course, with it being 22 years after the release of _Nevermind_, it’s rather easy to predict the Nirvana songs that will be popular 25 years after its release… the Nirvana songs you hear today will still be played 3 years from now. As a matter of fact, if you listen to your local “we play the hits from the 80’s, 90’s, and now” station, it’s damned good odds that those songs will still be played 25 years after their original release. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/72 "2013-04-16T17:34:59Z")
Here’s what I don’t get: Back in the 1980s, oldies stations played 50s and 60s songs. But now it’s been over two decades, and oldies stations still play 50s and 60s music, while 70s and later are still not labelled oldies. I wonder why that is? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/73 "2013-04-16T17:59:47Z")
Do you get Van Halen and Aerosmith on classic Rock stations? On occasion Nirvana and Soundgarden? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/74 "2013-04-16T18:56:13Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Here’s what I don’t get: Back in the 1980s, oldies stations played 50s and 60s songs. But now it’s been over two decades, and oldies stations still play 50s and 60s music, while 70s and later are still not labelled oldies. I wonder why that is? The closest we have to an oldies station in Chicago is 104.3 K-Hits, and it’s music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Even when we had a “true” oldies station in 104.3 when it was “Oldies 104” (previously “Magic 104”), the playlist had shifted into 60s and 70s by the time it changed formats (it went to a “Jack FM” wide playlist type of station before ending up where it is now.) I haven’t heard an Oldies station that plays 50s music in quite a while in this market. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/75 "2013-04-16T19:19:22Z")
Judging by the impromptu singalong that started when it was played over the PA before a show at SxSW in Austin a few weeks back: Closing Time by Semisonic. See also, Wonders, One Hit. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349/76 "2013-04-16T20:28:10Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Judging by the impromptu singalong that started when it was played over the PA before a show at SxSW in Austin a few weeks back: Closing Time by Semisonic. See also, Wonders, One Hit. “Singing in My Sleep” 4EVA! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-years-later-well-known-songs-from-the-1990s-2000s/655349.md?page=3)