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1991 in music

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Events

The year 1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", became the most popular U.S. album of the year. Followed immediately by other grunge bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden, grunge dominated the U.S. charts for the next few years. Its success effectively ended pop-oriented, 1980s glam metal groups like Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Poison and Ratt, whose sales and critical viability were beginning to decline for about two years previously. Even so, the rock band Guns N' Roses's popularity flourished with the release of the albums, Use Your Illusion I and II . Van Halen also seemed to continue with their popularity throughout 1991, with the release of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Grunge also ended Los Angeles' status as the city for rock music stardom, and established Seattle as such.

A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory was released this year; it would go on to be considered one of the best hip hop albums of the 1990s. A Tribe Called Quest, along with De La Soul, Dream Warriors, Gang Starr and the Poor Righteous Teachers, helped define what came to be known as alternative rap with important releases this year.

Queen frontman Freddie Mercury died at home in London on November 24, due to AIDS complications. Rumors had been circulating that Mercury had AIDS, but the death came as a shock to millions of fans and the music industry. The remaining members of Queen formed the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the following year, a tribute concert was staged in Wembley Stadium. A sell-out crowd in attendance witnessed the three surviving members reuniting to play along with performances by the likes of David Bowie, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Metallica and George Michael.

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody goes to number one for the second time, which is the first and only time a single has gone to number one in the same version more than once. It was also the first and only time a single has gone to number one more than once on the UK Christmas charts. It has now spent a total of 14 weeks on the UK charts.

1991 was also the year CCM, or contemporary Christian music, reached a new peak. Amy Grant, who had already crossed back and forth between CCM and pop in the mid-80s, achieved her (and CCM's) first #1 hit on the pop charts with the hit single "Baby Baby." Another single, "That's What Love Is For," would also top the charts, this time in the Adult Contemporary field. Meanwhile, Grant's album Heart In Motion reaches #11 on the pop chart and #1 on the Christian chart despite its non-religious objective, and quickly become a best-seller. Another CCM crossover artist in 1991 is Michael W. Smith, who achieves a Top Ten pop hit with his single "Place In This World." The subsequent album, Go West Young Man, is also a hit.

The massive success of Garth Brooks in this year sets the stage for the mid-1990s influx of pop-oriented country musicians. In addition, several soon-to-be pivotal bands form or release debuts, including Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Spin Doctors) and stoner metal (Kyuss, Sleep, The Obsessed). Massive Attack's Blue Lines, while unique at the time, invented the sound that would eventually become known as trip hop. Entombed's Clandestine and Dismember's Like an Ever Flowing Stream are early releases from the Scandinavian metal scene. On the other side of the Atlantic, New York death metal band Suffocation release their debut full-length Effigy of the Forgotten, often considered one of the most influential extreme metal albums ever recorded. Trance music rises to prominence in the underground dance scene of Frankfurt, Germany, pioneered by such producers as Dance 2 Trance and Resistance D. U2 release their seventh album Achtung Baby, considered by many of their fans to be their best album. Metallica also released their most commercially successful self-titled album, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers broke through to the mainstream with their critically and commercially acclaimed Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Bands formed

Bands disbanded

Albums released

January

Day Album Artist Notes
15 A Little Ain't Enough David Lee Roth -
Step in the Arena Gang Starr -
22 Chagall Guevara Chagall Guevara -
The Soul Cages Sting -
25 Into the Light Gloria Estefan -
29 Divinyls Divinyls -
Doubt Jesus Jones -
Uncle Anesthesia Screaming Trees -

February

Day Album Artist Notes
4 Innuendo Queen -
11 Coolin' at the Playground Ya Know! Another Bad Creation -
19 Green Mind Dinosaur Jr -
21 Marc Cohn Marc Cohn -
25 Recurring Spacemen 3 -
26 1916 Motörhead -
Hooked Great White -

March

Day Album Artist Notes
4 Peggy Suicide Julian Cope UK; May 7 in US; Double Album
The White Room The KLF -
5 Kill Uncle Morrissey -
Time For a Witness The Feelies -
Heart in Motion Amy Grant -
12 Everybody's Angel Tanita Tikaram -
Free Rick Astley -
Mind Funk Mind Funk -
Out of Time R.E.M. -
The Real Ramona Throwing Muses -
19 Chill of an Early Fall George Strait -
26 Lean Into It Mr. Big -
Ribbed NOFX -
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991 Bob Dylan Box Set
The Human Factor Metal Church -
Vagabond Heart Rod Stewart -
27 Good-bye My Loneliness Zard -
Spiderland Slint -
28 Joyride Roxette -

April

Day Album Artist Notes
1 School of Fish School of Fish -
2 Arise Sepultura -
Mane Attraction White Lion -
3 Vital Signs 2 Vital Signs -
5 The Ghosts That Haunt Me Crash Test Dummies -
8 Flashpoint The Rolling Stones Live
Real Life Simple Minds -
9 L'Autre Mylène Farmer -
True Love Pat Benatar -
15 The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld The Orb -
16 LaTour LaTour -
The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life Frank Zappa 2 discs; Live
Temple of the Dog Temple of the Dog -
22 Hoodoo Alison Moyet -
Shift-Work The Fall -
23 Ordinary Average Guy Joe Walsh -
The Reality of My Surroundings Fishbone -
Time, Love & Tenderness Michael Bolton -
30 Cooleyhighharmony Boyz II Men -
Why Do Birds Sing? Violent Femmes -

May

Day Album Artist Notes
3 Grippe Jawbox -
7 5,000,000 Dread Zeppelin -
Hard at Play Huey Lewis & the News -
Star Time James Brown Box Set
9 808 State -
13 De La Soul Is Dead De La Soul -
Pop Life Bananarama UK
Positively Phranc Phranc -
14 Don't Rock the Jukebox Alan Jackson -
Mighty Like a Rose Elvis Costello -
O.G. Original Gangster Ice T -
Sailing the Seas of Cheese Primus -
Schubert Dip EMF -
Spellbound Paula Abdul -
Yerself Is Steam Mercury Rev -
17 Whispers Thomas Anders -
21 Pink Bubbles Go Ape Helloween -
28 Electronic Electronic -
Gish The Smashing Pumpkins -
Music From the Movie Jungle Fever Stevie Wonder -
Niggaz4Life N.W.A. -
29 Like an Ever Flowing Stream Dismember -

June

Day Album Artist Notes
4 Extremely Live Vanilla Ice Live
Funke, Funke Wisdom Kool Moe Dee -
Make a Jazz Noise Here Frank Zappa -
11 Love Hurts Cher -
Seal Seal -
Slave to the Grind Skid Row -
Superstition Siouxsie & the Banshees -
Unforgettable... with Love Natalie Cole -
14 Slow, Deep and Hard Type O Negative -
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 Frank Zappa 2 discs; Live
16 The Globe Big Audio Dynamite II -
18 Derelicts of Dialect 3rd Bass -
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Van Halen -
24 Baby Yello -
Holidays in Eden Marillion -
25 All Souled Out Pete Rock & CL Smooth EP
Attack of the Killer B's Anthrax Rarities album
Go Figure Spirit of the West -
Hollywood Vampires L.A. Guns -
Luck of the Draw Bonnie Raitt -
Whirlpool Chapterhouse -

July

Day Album Artist Notes
1 13-Point Program to Destroy America Nation of Ulysses -
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours Green Day Compilation
Butchered at Birth Cannibal Corpse -
Pure Poverty Poor Righteous Teachers -
We Can't Be Stopped Geto Boys -
2 A Future Without a Past Leaders of the New School -
God Fodder Ned's Atomic Dustbin -
Hey Stoopid Alice Cooper -
Into the Great Wide Open Tom Petty -
The Ruler's Back Slick Rick -
Trisha Yearwood Trisha Yearwood -
5 Blessed Are the Sick Morbid Angel -
9 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey: Music from the Motion Picture Various Artists -
Boyz N the Hood soundtrack Various Artists -
16 Amen Salif Keita -
Beat the Boots Frank Zappa Live; Box Set
Biscuits (EP) Living Colour EP
23 Breaking Atoms Main Source -
Homebase DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince -
Music for the People Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch -
João João Gilberto -
30 Widespread Panic Widespread Panic -
31 Steady Diet of Nothing Fugazi -

August

Day Album Artist Notes
3 To Mother Babes in Toyland EP
5 Brainstorm Young MC -
6 Ask the Ages Sonny Sharrock -
Blue Lines Massive Attack -
Harem Scarem Harem Scarem -
Madra Miranda Sex Garden -
12 Metallica ("The Black Album") Metallica -
13 Brand New Man Brooks & Dunn -
Cypress Hill Cypress Hill -
20 Honey Lingers Voice of the Beehive US
Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble Transvision Vamp -
Pocket Full of Kryptonite Spin Doctors -
The Comfort Zone Vanessa Williams -
26 Leisure Blur UK
27 Backlash Bad English -
fear Toad the Wet Sprocket -
Harmony Ranch Riders in the Sky Live
Ten Pearl Jam -

September

Day Album Artist Notes
2 Guaranteed Level 42 -
Tin Machine II Tin Machine -
3 Horrorscope Overkill -
Mistaken Identity Donna Summer -
Ratt & Roll 81-91 Ratt Greatest Hits
Roll the Bones Rush -
Travelers and Thieves Blues Traveler -
10 Blow Up The Smithereens -
Catfish Rising Jethro Tull -
On Every Street Dire Straits -
Psychotic Supper Tesla -
Ropin' the Wind Garth Brooks -
Solace Sarah McLachlan -
17 Act Like You Know MC Lyte -
Emotions Mariah Carey -
No More Tears Ozzy Osbourne -
Pretty on the Inside Hole -
Use Your Illusion I Guns N' Roses -
Use Your Illusion II Guns N' Roses -
18 C.M.B. Color Me Badd -
19 Mad Mad World Tom Cochrane Canada; released in US in Feb '92
20 The Pod Ween -
23 Prisoners in Paradise Europe -
Sigh No More Gamma Ray -
Waking Up the Neighbours Bryan Adams Canada; released Sept. 24 in US
Wretch Kyuss -
24 Blood Sugar Sex Magik Red Hot Chili Peppers -
Ceremony The Cult -
Face the Nation Kid 'n Play -
Hymns to the Silence Van Morrison -
Nevermind Nirvana -
Rock the House Live! Heart Live
The Low End Theory A Tribe Called Quest -
30 Ebbhead Nitzer Ebb -

October

Day Album Artist Notes
1 Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black Public Enemy -
Diamonds and Pearls Prince & the New Power Generation -
For My Broken Heart Reba McEntire -
Scamboogery Scatterbrain -
The Greatest Hits Cheap Trick Greatest Hits
4 Miscellaneous T They Might Be Giants B-Sides & Remixes
Streets: A Rock Opera Savatage -
7 Trompe le Monde Pixies -
8 Badmotorfinger Soundgarden -
Cool As Ice Vanilla Ice -
Screamadelica Primal Scream -
Sports Weekend: As Nasty As They Wanna Be, Pt. 2 2 Live Crew -
9 The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move... It's the Infectious Grooves Infectious Grooves -
14 Let's Get to It Kylie Minogue -
15 As Ugly as They Wanna Be Ugly Kid Joe -
Chorus Erasure -
Mr. Bad Example Warren Zevon -
Vinyl Dramarama -
17 The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth Skyclad -
19 Decade of Decadence Mötley Crüe Compilation
22 Effigy of the Forgotten Suffocation -
Girlfriend Matthew Sweet -
Human Death -
I Wish My Brother George Was Here Del tha Funkee Homosapien -
Pennywise Pennywise -
29 Death Certificate Ice Cube -
Prince of Darkness Big Daddy Kane -
30 Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious Carcass -

November

Day Album Artist Notes
1 Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Various Artists -
Infrared Roses Grateful Dead Live Compilation
4 Loveless My Bloody Valentine -
5 Nothing but a Burning Light Bruce Cockburn -
11 Essential Divinyls Greatest Hits
Live Baby Live INXS Live
We Can't Dance Genesis -
12 2Pacalypse Now 2Pac -
80-85 Bad Religion Compilation
Clandestine Entombed -
In Celebration of Life Yanni -
Swallow This Live Poison 2 discs; Live
19 Achtung Baby U2 -
Beckology Jeff Beck Box Set
Cool Hand Loc Tone Lōc -
Laughing Stock Talk Talk -
Live Happy Mondays Live
The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection Yngwie Malmsteen -
26 Dangerous Michael Jackson -
Hook: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack John Williams -
Keep It Comin' Keith Sweat -

December

Day Album Artist Notes
6 Forest of Equilibrium Cathedral -
10 Until the End of the World soundtrack Various Artists -
15 V Legião Urbana -
25 Mō Sagasanai Zard -

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1991.

# Artist Title Year Country Chart Entries
1 Bryan Adams (Everything I Do) I Do it For You 1991 UK 1 - Jun 1991, US BB 1 of 1991, US CashBox 1 of 1991, Holland 1 - Jul 1991, Sweden 1 - Aug 1991, Austria 1 - Aug 1991, Switzerland 1 - Jul 1991, Norway 1 - Jul 1991, Poland 1 - Jul 1991, Germany 1 - Jan 1992, Eire 1 - Jul 1991, New Zealand 1 for 8 weeks Aug 1991, Australia 1 for 11 weeks Oct 1991, US BB 3 of 1991, Australia 3 of 1991, POP 3 of 1991, Europe 5 of the 1990s, TOTP 6, Global 7 (10 M sold) - 1991, Italy 9 of 1991, Germany 9 of the 1990s, Scrobulate 30 of ballad, Virgin 60, Party 70 of 2007, RYM 73 of 1991, Poland 96 of all time, OzNet 121, Belgium 150 of all time
2 Michael Jackson Black Or White 1991 UK 1 - Nov 1991, US BB 1 of 1991, Sweden 1 - Nov 1991, Switzerland 1 - Nov 1991, Norway 1 - Nov 1991, Poland 1 - Nov 1991, Eire 1 - Nov 1991, New Zealand 1 for 8 weeks Nov 1991, Australia 1 for 8 weeks Feb 1992, Austria 2 - Nov 1991, Germany 2 - Jan 1992, Holland 3 - Nov 1991, Italy 3 of 1991, US BB 19 of 1991, POP 19 of 1991, Australia 24 of 1992, US CashBox 29 of 1992, RYM 96 of 1991, Germany 115 of the 1990s
3 Roxette Joyride 1991 US BB 1 of 1991, Holland 1 - Mar 1991, Sweden 1 - Mar 1991, Austria 1 - Mar 1991, Switzerland 1 - Mar 1991, Norway 1 - Mar 1991, Germany 1 - Mar 1991, Australia 1 for 3 weeks Jul 1991, Poland 3 - Apr 1991, UK 4 - Mar 1991, France 7 - Apr 1991, Australia 13 of 1991, Italy 24 of 1991, Germany 24 of the 1990s, US CashBox 33 of 1991, US BB 35 of 1991, POP 37 of 1991
4 The Scorpions Wind of Change 1991 Holland 1 - Apr 1991, Sweden 1 - Mar 1991, Austria 1 - Jun 1991, Switzerland 1 - Feb 1991, Norway 1 - Apr 1991, Poland 1 - Mar 1991, Germany 1 of the 1990s, Germany 1 - Apr 1991, UK 2 - Sep 1991, US BB 4 of 1991, Scrobulate 9 of ballad, France 10 - Dec 1990, US BB 24 of 1991, Europe 26 of the 1990s, POP 26 of 1991, RYM 142 of 1990
5 REM Losing My Religion 1991 Holland 1 - Mar 1991, Poland 1 - Apr 1991, Europe 1 of the 1990s, US BB 4 of 1991, Norway 4 - Jun 1991, Sweden 5 - Mar 1991, RYM 5 of 1991, Austria 7 - Aug 1991, Switzerland 11 - Oct 1991, Belgium 12 of all time, UK 19 - Mar 1991, US BB 28 of 1991, Virgin 30, US CashBox 39 of 1991, 39 in 2FM list, Poland 44 of all time, Acclaimed 44, POP 61 of 1991, Scrobulate 69 of rock, Italy 70 of 1991, OzNet 90, WXPN 106, RIAA 143, Rolling Stone 169

Top hits