# Who was the #1 artist of the '90s?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-1-artist-of-the-90s/239214>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 9, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-1-artist-of-the-90s/239214 "2004-04-09T19:59:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-1-artist-of-the-90s/239214/21 "2004-04-12T22:39:51Z")

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> [@bughunter](#):
>
> A discussion of best act of the 90’s, and no mention of Nirvana?

We’re talking about Mariah Carey here **bug** , the word “best” has no place in this discussion.

As for the '70s thing, I’ll bet the reason the order was different is they used a different scoring system. I’ll wager the version I heard on America’s Top 40 was based on Top 40 charts and the list mentioned by **astorian** was based on the top 100. Not a sure thing, but that’s what I’m thinking. The 3 artists must have been very close.

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**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-1-artist-of-the-90s/239214/22 "2004-04-12T22:41:16Z")

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> [@Aesiron](#):
>
> Yes. Elvis and Sinatra were nothing more than glorified cover artists

Another adherent of the rather narrow view that no one who doesn’t write his/her/their own material can be all that good?

Elvis and Sinatra are head and shoulders above 99.8% of the artists who **do** write their own material, past and present.

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-1-artist-of-the-90s/239214/23 "2004-04-13T01:59:51Z")

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First, if I didn’t make it clear, my Billboard book only covers singles- it doesn’t include album sales. So, it’s quite possible that there are album-oriented artists who didn’t have as many hit singles as Mariah Carey, but who raked in more money in overall sales

Second… I remember the Casey Kasem Seventies retrospective, and I recall that the Bee Gees were #2. So, how did McCartney pass them? I’m not sure. It’s POSSIBLE that my book counts Wings, Paul & Linda McCartney and Paul McCartney solo as one and the same act, while the 1979 radio show counted them separately.

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