Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

November 6, 1993 Meat Loaf hits #1 in America with "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." The version that opens his album Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell is over 12-minutes long, but the single is cut to 5:13.

November 6, 1993 Eazy-E's second EP It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa debuts at #5 on the Billboard 200 chart and #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

May 28, 1993 The action comedy Super Mario Bros., a live adaptation of the popular Nintendo game starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi, debuts in US theaters. The movie flops, but the soundtrack's lead single, "Almost Unreal" by Roxette, is a top 10 hit in the UK.

May 15, 1993 "That's The Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson goes to #1 in America, where it stays for eight weeks - longer than any other single by either Janet or her famous brother.

March 20, 1993 Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang," peaks at #2 on the Hot 100, where it stays for one week.

March 13, 1993 "Informer," a reggae-rap song with inscrutable verses by the Canadian artist Snow (named for his whiteness), hits #1 in America and stays on top for seven weeks. Snow enjoys it all from a prison cell in Toronto, where he's serving an eight-month sentence for assault.

January 30, 1993 The Eazy-E EP 5150 Home 4 tha Sick, his first recording since the end of N.W.A., debuts at #70 on the Billboard 200 chart.

May 23, 1992 Totally Krossed Out by the teenage rap duo Kriss Kross hits #1 in the US. Produced by Jermaine Dupri, the title is a reference to how they wear their clothes: backwards in a look they call "krossed out."

September 14, 1991 Paula Abdul lands her sixth (and final) #1 US hit with "The Promise of a New Day."

July 6, 1991 Grunge music takes baby steps into the mainstream as the Alice in Chains album Facelift peaks at #42 in the US, and "Man In The Box" goes to #18 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

June 15, 1991 Paula Abdul hits #1 in America with the ballad "Rush, Rush," her fifth chart-topper. A young Keanu Reeves is in the video.

June 8, 1991 Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound, hits #1 in America. The ballad "Rush, Rush" and the rosy "The Promise of a New Day" both go to #1 on the Hot 100.

May 25, 1991 It's peak Michael Bolton as his album Time, Love & Tenderness goes to #1 in America. Hits from the set include the Diane Warren-penned title track and his cover of "When a Man Loves a Woman."

May 11, 1991 "Joyride" by Roxette peaks at #1 on the Hot 100. It's the fourth and final US chart-topper for the Swedish duo.

March 2, 1991 Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" peaks at #6 on the US chart, thanks to an instrumental version featured in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart.

January 5, 1991 Madonna's "Justify My Love," a new song included on her compilation album The Immaculate Collection, goes to #1 in America, her ninth topper on the tally. The song, co-written by Lenny Kravitz, gets a lot of attention thanks to its video, which was banned by MTV and subsequently released on home video.

November 10, 1990 In a sign that pop and rap have fused together, To the Extreme by Vanilla Ice replaces MC Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em at #1 on the US albums chart.

September 22, 1990 The N.W.A. EP 100 Miles and Runnin' (their first release without Ice Cube, who left the group several months earlier to pursue a successful solo career) debuts at #27 on the Billboard 200 chart.

June 16, 1990 The Swedish pop duo Roxette earn their third chart-topper when their breakup ballad "It Must Have Been Love" from the Pretty Woman soundtrack hits #1.

June 2, 1990 Mariah Carey makes the Hot 100 for the first time when her debut single, "Vision Of Love," enters at #73. In August, the song goes to #1, as do her next four singles.

April 14, 1990 Tommy Page's "I'll Be Your Everything" hits #1 in America.

February 10, 1990 Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract," a duet with MC Skat Cat (Minnesota DJ Derrick "Delite" Stevens), goes to #1 in America, where it stays for three weeks.

November 4, 1989 "Listen To Your Heart" by the Swedish pop-rock duo Roxette is a #1 hit on the Hot 100.

September 2, 1989 Thanks to a saucy Flashdance-inspired video directed by David Fincher, Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted" goes to #1 in America.More

September 2, 1989 N.W.A.'s "Express Yourself" debuts at #45 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming their second single to reach that chart.

August 12, 1989 Richard Marx lands his third consecutive US #1 as "Right Here Waiting" hits the top spot. The song is a love letter to his wife, the actress Cynthia Rhodes, who was away shooting a film when he wrote it.

June 10, 1989 De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, peaks at #24 on the Billboard 200 chart. On the same day, "Me, Myself and I" hits #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

May 6, 1989 N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton, which was released nine months earlier, reaches its chart peak of #37 in the US.

April 22, 1989 Kid 'N Play's biggest hit, "Rollin' With Kid 'N Play," hits #11 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, as their debut album 2 Hype (which was released six months earlier) debuts at #9 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

April 15, 1989 Tone-Loc's debut album, Loc-ed After Dark, hits #1 on the Billboard 200, thanks to the success of his platinum hit "Wild Thing."