The Use your illusion era of Guns n roses career was already a huge success by the time they unveiled the video to this song, which fun fact was released months prior to deafening silence likely due to it being one of the more long-winded songs on both albums. The video was such as success that it quickly became not just their biggest hit but also one of the biggest hits of the twentieth century.
So, it's come to this, what's often considered to be one of the worst songs of the decade which was indeed also one of the biggest worldwide. I unfortunately agree with the consensus which is that this is an annoying song with lyrics some of the corniest lyrics known to man, however it does have its merit as it did spear head the line dancing craze that would persist throughout the decade in America.
Personally, I've always preferred the Dolly Parton version of this ballad, however there's no denying that Whitney Houston made it her own when she starred in the poorly reviewed romantic thriller the Bodyguard opposite Kevin Costner and had this rendition of her track play over the emotional climax of the film.
A song about de stigmatising sex in the mainstream becoming big this year? Well, colour me shocked as we have this all-female hip hop trio to thank for why sex prudes became rarer as the decade went on (OK so they were far from the leading cause of this happening but still.) Strangely the girls were still yet to find success in their native America, although their fortunes would change there with their next album.
Although these guys achieved massive success in NZ and their native America with "It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday," this track which was originally released as the theme song to the Eddie Murphy flick Boomerang (which isn't among his better films sadly) was what broke the RNB boy band into a wider market thanks to their vocal harmonies and Nathan's spoken word verse.
This was the first song that MJ released following the final stages of his plastic surgery which transitioned him from a man of colour to a Caucasian, naturally this was meant to be a song that inspires racial harmony from a man who have a very wide demographic regardless of their skin colour.
This was the second single from Prince's Diamonds and pearls album, although given how it was the runaway success from the album, you'd be forgiven into thinking it was the lead single. I don't think he's ever sounded hornier on any other track than he does on here, which is perhaps why this remains his most successful single even if it's not one of his more iconic.
This was the signature track from Wendy Matthews given hot it easily remains her biggest hit in her career, admittedly it does showcase her vocal talents quite nicely even though I'm a much bigger fan of her more upbeat tracks such as "Let's kiss" and "Token angels." This song did lead her to having a widely successful album which goes to show how much love it had from Australian audiences.
And who says joke songs have only become a recent phenomenon? OK so this was a huge success back in the day, proving that even back then, people thought that the idea of clowning on toxic narcissists like these guys do throughout the track was the height of comedy. I'm in no way saying this is a bad thing, rather I feel that people find this way funnier than I do.
This was originally written for the film Mo money, hence why the two performers insist that the best things in life are free given that's the theme the film is going for (from what I can gather that is.) This proved to be a huge success for both parties involved particularly here in Australia where neither of them was exactly among the most successful stars of the moment, of course that changed once Janet released her next album.
One of the more promising Australian artists from the EDM scene was this trio, although they were mired with behind-the-scenes drama as the vocalist on this track Keren Minshull didn't appear in the video which had future vocalist Holly Garnett lip synching to her vocals. The trio patched things up on their next single which featured both women singing on the track as well as appearing in the video.
It looked like their album Blood sugar sex magik was all set to flop following the failure of its lead single "Give it away" worldwide, however the band released this as the albums second single which details Anthony Kiedis's complicated relationship with California which tugged at the heartstrings of many listeners back in the day. It remains their biggest hit to date thanks to how emotional he comes across on the track.
Well, the original version of this track was the rare ballad from KC and the Sunshine Band, so it only makes sense that this British EDM group would transform it into a dance track and that it would see massive success in a decade that was filled with EDM tracks. This resulted in the band finding other older songs to remix into club tracks, none of which managed to become a hit for them anywhere in the world.
This was only a modest success for the duo in their native America, likely due to how sincere the pair come off on this track which admittedly makes it a really cheesy number to listen to. The Brits certainly appreciated this cheesiness as this became a huge success over in the UK which allowed it to crossover internationally for the duo. They found further success with the rest of their album in NZ of all places.
So, this turned out to be Julian Lennon's biggest hit outside of America, granted "Too late for goodbyes" wasn't that big of a deal in Australia as even "Now you're in heaven" managed to be a bigger hit for him here. That said, this was also decently successful for him in his native UK, in fact it was able to match the success of his debut single over there seven years after that came out.
This feels like it should've been released a few years prior, doesn't it? I guess the grunge scene didn't completely kill the 80's when Nirvana released Nevermind after all as these guys managed to get in a huge hit with an acoustic ballad that would've been a dime a dozen in the late 80's. The band even achieved moderate success with their follow ups back in America, although not so much internationally.
Following the success of their Clunk E.P, Frente released their debut single which was another cutesy track that they had become known for during the first phase of their career. I bring this up because they did change with the times on their next album which resulted in them being more hardcore, an image that many people (me included) felt didn't suit them very well.
This was the debut E.P from Ugly Kid Joe, an E.P which was largely ignored upon its initial release until the signature track "Everything about you" became a surprise hit for the band over in the UK months after its initial release. This allowed the E.P to become a huge hit in Australia and no doubt led to the band releasing their debut album which it too needed a surprise hit in the UK to take off down under.
It looked like that Vanessa Williams would never touch a chart outside of her native America with one of her songs given how her second album was initially a flop for her just like her debut, however her fortunes changed for the better when she released this song from her second album which became a surprise hit for her worldwide. It turns out that in addition to being a talented actress, she's an amazing singer as evidence by her performance on this track.
This was the biggest hit that Snap was able to achieve in their career, although there's a bit of minor controversy with this song as it contains the line "I'm serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer" which rubbed people the wrong way upon its initial release. That didn't prevent the song from being a massive success for the German band, although it would prove to be their last hit in certain places.
There were a lot of songs about jumping around during the early 90's weren't there? Here we have a hit from the Movement which was an American EDM group who scored a surprise hit here in Australia with this track given how EDM generally doesn't do well on the Billboard charts. The lack of success they had back home caused them to give up on music soon after this became a hit here.
It looked like that Richard Marx would be considered as yesterday's news when he released his third album Rush Street, after all Bryan Adams was back in the spotlight and it appeared that the world didn't have any use for this American singer/songwriter. They were proven wrong when this ballad about how he witnessed a murder became a surprise worldwide hit, proving there was room for multiple singer/songwriters in the 90's.
There haven't been that many Olympic themes to make it big over the years, in fact this is technically the biggest hit to spawn from the games as the only other big hits I can think of to be affiliated with the games are "Absolutely everybody" and "Moscow." Even then those songs weren't officially affiliated with the games and only were due to the Australian press. In any case, we have this duet between opera singers Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman singing a song that translates to "friends for life."
This was originally meant to be the lead single from the second volume of Listen without prejudice, however the album was cancelled when George Michael decided to instead take over from Freddie Mercury as the lead singer for Queen following his tragic passing the previous year. That didn't prevent him from releasing this track where it became a massive success for him due to how sexually charged it is.
Well, this was the decade of obvious sampling, so it makes sense that this short-lived Hispanic hip hop group would score a massive worldwide success with this track given how it samples the Champs classic from 1958. I will say that hip hop was able to find success down under back in the day provided it had a gimmick to go along with the rhymes, this happened to use nostalgia baiting.
I wouldn't have thought that a hip hop track from two underage rappers would be among the bigger hits of the year in Australia, boy did these two prove me wrong as their infectious flow combined with as they put it the "smooth groove melody" helped them find an audience in a country that seemed to be very picky with which hip hop tracks made it big. Indeed, the rest of their catalogue didn't find much success down under.
Much like in their native America, this was the bigger hit for Color me Badd in Australia likely due to it being catchier than their debut single from the New jack city soundtrack. It's impressive to think that these guys were as successful as they were considering how few people fondly remember their music, sure it was upbeat, but it didn't win a ton of critical praise for the quartet.
Well, if you wanted to hear what a Sam and Dave track would sound like if you replaced their vocals with Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham then knock yourself out with this duet between the two pub rockers. It was a huge hit for them off of Jimmy's Soul deep album so I'm guessing there are people out there who like this.
I don't think anyone was expecting to see Bobby Brown achieve such a massive hit with the lead single of his second album outside of America given how he didn't find that much success internationally with his debut album. I'm guessing New jack swing had become less stigmatised by international audiences by this point, either that or they really wanted to hear a song about his sexual escapades with his new wife Whitney Houston.
Following her departure from Bananarama, Siobahn Fahay formed a new group with Marcella Detroit who scored initial success with their debut single "You're history" from the start of the decade. Their second album was where their popularity exploded as this lead single became a huge worldwide smash for the duo, although it led to them struggling with mental health issues which resulted in their breakup.
This was the only hit that country star James Blundell managed to achieve in his career, even then this was largely due to the involvement of James Reyne who was still one of the hottest Australian singers around this time. Admittedly this allowed Blundell's third album to be a huge success following the success of this cover of the Dingoes track, however neither of them found any success after this.
This was the first of two big hits that Sophie B Hawkins was able to achieve worldwide, I feel that she deserved so much more success than what she got considering how sharply written and well performed both songs were back in the day. This is another song which caused speculation towards an artist's sexuality as there's lyrics in here which suggest that Sophie is talking to a woman throughout the song.
This was originally a minor hit for Elton John from his 1974 album Caribou here in Australia, however it was given its full due when George Michael agreed to perform it with him at a concert which was so well received that it became a chart topper for them both in America and their native UK. I'm guessing this was meant to be included on George's second Listen without prejudice album just like his earlier entry.
This was the first single to feature Deni Hines as the lead vocalist for the Rockmelons, and they wanted you to know she was the vocalist during this phase of their career as all of the singles give her a featuring credit despite her officially being part of the band during this point in time. This is a cover of a Bill Withers track, and like the rest of his catalogue, it wasn't a hit for him originally.
Patty Smyth had previous success with her band Scandal eight years prior with their hit single "The warrior," so to see her back in the spotlight with this duet between Don Henley was a bit of a welcomed surprise given how neither of them had touched the charts since 1985. This unfortunately didn't lead to a revival of either of their careers, although Don did reunite with the Eagles not long after this.
This was the only notable success that Jimmy Nail managed to score outside of his native UK, although he did score a string of hits over there throughout his career suggesting that the Brits were in love with his spoken word poetry that he would occasionally break up with singing. I guess the story of how his partner was lying to him and him seeing right through them was engaging to make it a hit here.
If this vocalist sounds familiar to you, that's because the KLF were able to get Tammy Wynnette on here which helped them score their third hit in a row worldwide as people no doubt had nostalgia for the country legend. They would release one more single after this which is a remake of their first song as the KLF "What time is love" before they faded into obscurity and eventually broke up.
Before there were the Spice girls, there was this Australian equivalent who made a huge splash with their first album here. Indeed, this was their debut single and yet it went straight to number one which should give you an idea of how well marketed these young women were during the height of their popularity. Unfortunately for them, their second album went nowhere due to the notable absence of Robyn Loau.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that reggae became a huge international success this decade given how many of the bigger hits fit into the genre perfectly. This was the second single from the Rockmelons that featured Deni Hines as the lead vocalist, as well as their second hit in a row that managed to crossover to NZ where reggae was an even bigger deal than it was in Australia. All of this led to the band receiving buzz over in the UK.
Well, here we are with what's often considered the best song not just of the decade but of all time, yes, this lead single from Nevermind was indeed a huge success back in the day much to the chagrin of the band who brought it to life in the first place. Admittedly this was their only big hit in Australia as the success of the album ate up the potential success of the other singles from the album.
This was originally a hit for Tommy Roe back in the late 60's, although it was covered by comedian Vic Reeves and British band Wonder stuff for charity which is why it became a huge success this year. This didn't do the band any favours for their music career, likely due to charity singles having a bad reputation in the music industry.
This was the debut album for one of the most popular EDM artists of the decade, although people will think that these guys are a one hit wonder with this song due to how prevalent it remains in sporting events due to the line "yall ready for this." This wasn't even their biggest hit as that honour goes to "No limit" from the following year, although this was a close second here in Australia.
This was originally a hit for John Paul Young way back in 1978 where it became his big international breakthrough and thus made him a one hit wonder outside of Australia. Fast forward to this year and we have Baz Lurhman commissioning a remix of this track to be used in his film debut Strictly ballroom where this updated version managed to become a hit for John all over again.
This was the only notable success that Utah saints had outside of their native UK, I'm guessing because of the samples throughout the track which made it appealing to the Australian EDM scene that was quickly growing this decade. We'll be looking at plenty of other dance tracks from one hit wonders, so I hope you're in the mood for more of this type of music.
For everyone who reckons that body positivity songs are only a recent phenomenon, allow me to acquaint you with this hip hop track from Sir mix a lot who made the brave decision to attack Cosmopolitan magazine for promoting unhealthy standards for women and how he prefers women who as he puts it "have big butts." The song was a massive success for him worldwide as it takes a positive stance towards inner beauty.
This was the second single to be released from Diesel's solo album Hepfidelity, it proved to be a bigger hit for him than his first single (which we'll get to in a bit) likely due to it being a more stripped back number than anything he released up until this point. For some reason, he had more success in NZ this year with this album, although that did result in him gaining international interest in his music.
This was the second single from MJ's dangerous album, and while the song itself remains a classic thanks to its laid-back production and performance from him, the real star of the show is the video which has him performing for the amusement of pharaoh Eddie Murphy. Apparently, this was done as a favour as MJ would appear on one of Eddie's songs the following year with an infinitely lamer video.
If you're a fan of Hi 5, then you'll likely recognise Kelly Haggart on here as this was the band she was with before she joined the children's band later in the decade. I guess you can consider this the female equivalent of the Wiggles in that regard even though the other two members has since faded into obscurity, indeed their biggest hit while a cover, is about how they want you to as they put it "be their baby."
This was the only hit that the Australian dance group Radio freedom scored in their career, although while this was a dance hit it also feels like it would've been a massive hit with the Latin craze had that begun earlier in the decade. While the band did release an album during their time together, the album was a massive failure which led to them breaking up as a result of its fallout.
Well, this seems a bit odd, this second single from Big audio dynamite's most recent album became a success around the time "Should I stay or should I go" was a massive success in their native UK. I bring this up because this song is often mistaken for the Clash classic due to them having the same melody as each other, although it's worth noting that Mick Jones was responsible for said melody so it's not like he was stealing from anyone else.
This was the only song that the 12th man released in his catalogue, here he samples the Nine news cricket theme and recruits someone by the name of MCG Hammer (get it, Melbourne cricket ground Hammer?) to rap over the beat while he does his usual impersonations of cricket commentators throughout the track. It was a surprise hit for him and likely resulted in his comedy albums finding success throughout the 90's.
This was where it all began for one of the happiest bands to score success this decade, or at least they were one of the happiest bands at first as later in the decade they would become edgier much to the chagrin of their fanbase. Here we have their E.P which featured the sickly sweet "Ordinary angels" which helped them build a fanbase for their equally sweet debut album Marvin the album.
This was the title track to the third album Bon Jovi had massive international success with, it appears that they didn't want to alienate fans that made New Jersey a success in the late 80's too much as they went with the song that most resembled their 80's material as their first single of the 90's. Indeed, the rest of the album would be more akin to what the 90's rock scene would shape up to be.
With all of the controversies involving lip synching that had emerged throughout the decade so far, Mariah had that accusation stick to her initially due to her unwillingness to embark on a tour to promote her music. In order to put those rumours to rest, she appeared on MTV unplugged where she gave a performance which confirms that her reluctancy came from her suffering from stage freight and not a lack of vocal talent.
This is another song I'm surprised wasn't that much bigger in Australia back in the day, then again that might be due to how many times I've seen the scene where this is played in Priscilla queen of the desert which turned this heteronormative track about getting over a bad relationship into a queer anthem about coming out of the closet. This needed two attempts to become a hit in the UK, likely due to the dozens of remixes it has.
Well, this might be one of the most controversial songs of the decade, mainly because of the line "e's are good" in the chorus which is basically an endorsement for ecstasy. This was a huge UK chart topper, and it was blatantly promoting drug use, although considering it was part of the rave culture which is known for its violent participants, I think it's safe to say that the fact this song was a success at all was impressive.
This was a massive hit in Tom's native Canada towards the end of the previous year, even so there was no guarantee that this song would crossover given how he had been active in his homeland for almost two decades at this point without seeing any international success. His patience was rewarded when this became a huge international success likely due to heartland rock still being one of the most popular genres of the moment.
This was the debut single for one of the big four in the grunge scene, in fact this year in general was a good year for bands that would go on to dominate the mainstream given how Nirvana and Red hot chili peppers got their big break with their earlier entries on this list. This would be the band's only hit in Australia for most of the decade until they finally scored a second hit with "Last kiss" just as the 90's was coming to an end.
Riff were a short-lived hip hop group who failed to score any success in their native America with their songs, they had better luck in the southern hemisphere where they scored two hits in NZ and one hit in Australia with this theme to the Wesley Snipes flick White men can't jump. I'm guessing this made it in the southern hemisphere due to our love of the film which sees Woody Harrelson learning to play basketball from Wesley.
Unlike her E street co-star Melissa Tkautz, Toni Pearen waited until she was an adult before she began recording songs which it turns out were far less sexually charged given how she went for a more adult contemporary direction with her music. This means that while her songs are admittedly less memorable, they're also less embarrassing which is why Toni was able to successfully become a TV host once the hits dried up.
I hope you appreciate all of the Australian entries on this list because they're about to become scarcer as we move forward in the decade, Rick Price was another Australian artist pipped for good things this decade as this was the first of two hits he was able to score from his debut album this year. Sure, it's another rip-off of John Farnham, however John was well loved at the time and these songs do hold up to this day.
While this is still harder than what they would release later in the decade, many people point to this ballad as the turning point for their transition towards a more mainstream audience as this was a more watered-down version of their sound compared to what had come previously from them. It was a best of both worlds situation as fans weren't quite off the bandwagon while it also being a huge commercial success.
Given that they were able to sort out the drama I mentioned with their earlier entry on this list, Euphoria released this second single from their debut album which saw no issues with becoming a huge hit for the trio and even sparked international interest in them due to how incessantly catchy their tracks were. There's still one more entry for them to come on this list before they faded into obscurity.
This was the only hit to come from Lisa Edwards, even then this was a cover of a Godley and Creme track that was made famous here with Dragon's rendition from the mid 80's. Lisa gives the best vocal performance of the three versions as she was a really good singer, however her popularity evaporated after this became a hit for her this year for reasons I can't seem to ascertain.
These guys were all set to give up when they released this song as a single, it's a shame they did give up soon after its release because it became a huge worldwide success for them likely due to how heartfelt the lyrics are and how catchy the melody is. Who knows what these guys would've released if they had of believed in themselves after this became a success.
This is often considered to be the signature tune of the show for Jesus Christ superstar, although I don't think anyone was expecting this rendition from the three leads of the Australian revival this year John Farnham, Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens to be a huge success. Indeed, it was which no doubt led to the success of the soundtrack which was indeed one of the biggest albums of the year.
This was released following the tragic death of Freddie Mercury where it became a number one hit in his native UK all over again, in Australia it wasn't quite as huge, however had it been delayed by a few months it likely would've been given that it almost topped the Billboard charts this year due to its inclusion in the Wayne's world soundtrack.
One of the few movies that Madonna starred in to be critically acclaimed was A league of their own, mainly because she's more of a supporting character as the film focuses on Geena Davis and Laurie Petty as sisters who become rivals in the women's baseball league of the forties in what's based on a true story. She also wrote and performed the film's theme song which many feel is the worst part of the film due to how bland and lifeless they feel it is.
This was the first solo hit that Diesel had here in Australia, it wasn't his first solo single as that honour goes to "Love junk" which was a huge flop for him, but this was what made him huge without the Injectors. Somehow this managed to be twice as successful over in NZ, I'm guessing he was more popular over there as his third solo single was also a huge success over there as well as his solo debut album.
It seemed odd that these guys would be able to score a hit this year considering how grunge had taken over the mainstream with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl jam, however Def Leppard had one thing over those guys which was a music video that has (even at the time) some of the worst CGI you'll ever witness on screen. This helped the glam rock track become a hit long after the genre had lost its popularity.
This was originally released as Yothu Yindi's debut single from the end of the 80's to deafening silence, likely because we Aussies weren't quite ready for aboriginal music to make it big in the music scene at the time. It was given a second chance when their debut album took off here where it became a huge success for them, although it came about a year after the lead single "Treaty" was a hit.
Considering James Brown lived for another fifteen years when this song was recorded, I'm guessing what the Dutch group meant by him being dead was his legacy which even back then couldn't have been further from the truth due to how much nostalgia people had for soul. I guess we Aussies found this concept to be hilarious which is perhaps why it became one of the bigger hits of the year.
Following the success of the title track from Erotica, Madonna decided that she was done trying to shock audiences with her sexual appeal and instead go for a more conventional dance track as the second single from the album. It proved to be a bigger hit for her mainly due to it being a song you can play on the dance floor but also due to the video and its visuals of balloons floating away signifying going deeper into the relationship.
This was a very impressive year for Rick Price as he was able to score two hit singles from his debut album despite already being in his thirties when he released said album, although he was a popular session musician throughout the 80's which explains why it took him so long to release said album. He did score minor success with his second album later in the decade, proving there was potential for him to be even bigger.
Madonna was all about shocking the general public during the first stretch of the 90's, so much so that the same time she released her lead single to Erotica, she released a book called Sex which is nothing more than scandalous pictures of her in sexually compromising positions. As such, this title track from the album was more interested in provoking controversy than being a hit, although it was a huge hit for her regardless.
This was the third single from Dangerous for MJ, this time the topic of the song is MJ addressing rumours that he was gay that he denounces here in a cheeky way by suggesting that him and his girlfriend should keep their relationship in the closet. The video features British model Naomi Campbell lip synching the female vocals which were recorded by Princess Stephanie of Monaco, making this another star studded single for him.
I guess Genesis also wanted to get in on the irony of the decade before we realised irony would be the word to describe the 90's, here they have a song about how they can't dance, despite them not being a dance act and thus no one really caring if they can or not. It was their final hit in the world as well as Phil Collin's final hit here in Australia as his subsequent follow ups flopped here in the decade.
Well, you know that Sesame Street was a phenomenon by this point in time when there's a popular hit single that remixed the theme song that the show uses to open up every episode. It became a huge worldwide success for the British EDM group likely due to the nostalgia people have for the show, although it hasn't received any love since its initial release this year.
Well, here's what I and many others consider to be the true first single that U2 released this decade as it signifies a change in their sound that was radically different to what they had released up until this point. While their previous single was the big hit off of Achtung baby on a technical level, it was this song which helped the album thrive while many albums from their contemporaries crashed and burned.
This was the third and final hit that Euphoria was able to achieve back in the day, this time we have Andrew Klippel on lead vocals which is perhaps how it was able to find success given how the other two tracks featured Holly and Keren on lead vocals. Sadly, this story doesn't have a happy ending to it as Holly would tragically take her life later in the decade due to family drama.
So, I feel there was a bit of a minor controversy with this song, mainly because Baby animals had a song from around this time known as "One word" which had a similar chorus to this track (lyric wise that is as the two songs have different tempos.) Naturally this was the big hit as U2 were on top of the world by this stage, although Baby animals had the bigger album which I guess was their consolation from us.
Given how "Here I am" managed to get a second wind on the Australian charts the previous year due to how well it did in America, it only makes sense that this song would also be given a second chance as it was the band's biggest hit from Labour of love II in their native UK two years prior. The other two international hits on the album "Homely girl" and "The way you do the things you do" weren't given a second chance here.
There were no signs of Guns n Roses slowing down this year as they released the third single from the Use your illusions era which was this cover of the James Bond classic. I guess the original remains one of the best remembered Bond themes due to how bombastic it is (it's my personal favourite despite not being a Wings fan) so it makes sense that these guys would take a stab at it and find success.
It looked like the album cycle for Achtung baby had come to an end when this single was released, however that wasn't the case as the song became a surprise hit here in Australia during the summer of 1992/1993 which kept the album going for over a year after its initial release. It was the final single from the album as they went back to the studio to record Zooropa after this.
This was the only hit that British band Voice of the beehive were able to achieve in Australia, likely due to it being a cover of the biggest hit that the Partridge family had two decades prior albeit as a pop rock tune in an attempt to modernise the wholesome original. I will say that I do prefer this track even if it's admittedly more dated than the original, I think it's due to how "radical" they were trying to be on here.
Technically this was a C+C Music factory track as C+C does stand for Clivilles and Cole, although this was a dance cover of the first hit that U2 had so I guess they wanted to establish themselves as a slightly different act from the one who dominated the mainstream the previous year with Martha Walsh. They would return as C+C Music factory two years later once they settle their legal disputes with her.
This was the only other hit that these girls were able to achieve in their career, at least it was an original track meaning they weren't among the dozens of artists I've featured on this site so far to only find success with a cover or two over the years. Like I said earlier, one of the members would return at the end of the decade as a member of Hi 5, meaning that this was a mere steppingstone for her future success.
This was the final hit that Kate Bush managed to score in her career, it's an Avant Garde cover of the Elton John classic that came from a covers album where many British artists paid tribute to the English piano man. Considering she began her career almost fifteen years prior, it's impressive that Kate was able to have success as recently as this year even if it was with an unconventional cover of a classic.
These guys were on a roll this year as this became their second hit around the world likely due to how irresistibly catchy it is, although it has been used in sports themes like their earlier entry on this list. They would score two more hits in Australia the following year from their second album, although throughout Europe they were one of the most popular bands of the decade from any genre.
There was simply no stopping U2 from dominating our charts this year given how well they had adapted into the new decade with their album Achtung baby; indeed, this was the first album where the singles managed to truly dominate our charts here in Australia as opposed to their 80's output where they only had the one big hit.
This E.P was the only success that Erasure had here in Australia following their debut single from six years prior, this is strange considering A: they were a dance act who would otherwise thrive on our charts and B: were inescapable in their native UK up until this point. I guess they needed to rely on our nostalgia for Abba in order to escape our one hit wonder bin with these four covers on this E.P.
Prince was on a roll this year when he released the title track to his comeback album, it proved to be the second biggest hit off the album in his native America due to it being a much dreamier track which was unusual for him throughout his discography. He would release one more single from the album before releasing his next album which had him sporting his new name as an unpronounceable symbol.
Bryan Adams was on a roll this year when he released the fourth single from his comeback album Waking up the neighbours, this was after the failure of the third single "There will never be another tonight" which signalled that he wouldn't have much success from the singles due to how big the album would be. This song proved otherwise and even led to him scoring another hit on Billboard with "Do I have to say the words."
I'm surprised this wasn't a bigger hit here in Australia considering how often it finds itself in commercials over the years, then again this needed two attempts to be a success in certain parts of the world as it flopped upon its initial release only for it to be a success on the one-year anniversary of its existence. This was the only success that the south African born British singer achieved in her career.
Even though this appeared on the Use your illusions albums, this was released as a single due to a performance the band gave at a Freddie Mercury memorial concert which helped this become a huge success for the band a year after the album's release. It seems curious that they would choose their Bob Dylan cover to perform at the concert, although I guess it's not like they covered any of Queen's discography by this point.
This was the only hit that Jon Secada managed to score in Australia, although I wouldn't feel too bad for him as he went on to massive success in his native America throughout the rest of the decade. This has often been cited as one of the earliest songs to launch the Latin craze that would dominate the second half of the 90's, it's more of an adult contemporary track but it does have Latin elements to it.
This was Roxette's final hit in Australia and most parts of the world, mainly because it came from their album Tourism which is part live, part studio and part interview which no doubt confused fans back in the day who likely didn't even know what to do with it. At least there was promise that they would retain their fun pop rock going forward, however that wasn't to be as their next album saw them changing their sound.
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