Kathleen Hanna adopted the alter ego of Julie Ruin, going for high-concept synth-pop rooted in French feminist lit-crit and a B-52s–style guitar hook.Left-field funk for the Space Age spinster pad, courtesy of three Japanese madwomen making gearhead moves on the Beasties’ Grand Royal label, in a mix of vintage analog synths and turntables. Look back at the Battle of Brit… 2020 has been one of the most successful years ever for female rap on the UK's Official Singles Chart Joel Corry & MNEK keep Official Singles Chart Number 1Taylor Swift holds for a third week at Number 1 with FolkloreShania Twain's The Woman In Me gets 25th anniversary reissueTaylor Swift regains Irish Number 1 album with FolkloreCardi B & Megan Thee Stallion's WAP scoops Ireland's highest new entryMiley Cyrus: 'I've always preferred releasing singles over albums'

-- The lead single and one of the standout tracks from Air’s enduring debut album, After being introduced via a pair of hit ballads, Tamia went left and took on a Commodores sample for her third single. But there’s a happy ending in the last verse, when the girl finds the inner strength to go see the Sebadoh show without him.The Glasgow noise lads raise a cathedral-sized instrumental racket of savagely mournful guitar feedback, seven minutes of amps seething with rage. -- The song that proved nu-metal was a musical force powerful enough to compete with anything coming out of Orlando in the late '90s, "Got the Life" was an absolute juggernaut: a ripping scythe of a guitar riff laid over a bass groove that chugged like a hellish choo-choo, tied together with a vocal of a lifetime from frontman Jonathan Davis. With no shortage of irony, of course, the anti-anthem itself went mainstream, reaching No. Bill Lamb is a music and arts writer with two decades of experience covering the world of entertainment and culture.

She unfolds the tale: “You called yesterday to basically say/ That you care for me but you’re just not in love.” While cramming as many words as possible into the chorus, she enunciates the particulars of her disguise. Pairing grievances that paint the mundane as fatalism (“a job that slowly kills you”) Though its legacy in America began when it was selected as the theme song to For anyone who has ever fallen in love, “This Kiss” sublimely evokes the joyous, out-of-body experience that comes from kissing a special someone. Pos. -- Loose and low-key, with doubled vocals that still come off as almost breathy at times, the track is nonetheless pointed and straightforward in its themes.

From Celine Dion's traditional big pop ballad "My Heart Will Go On" to Madonna and Jay-Z pushing musical boundaries with their latest work.

And with good reason: Aside from perhaps Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' with Disaster," there's no better song to soundtrack racing games both then and now -- and c'mon, it's literally named for a drag-racing car from Shakira was a Latin American star, until she released In the late ‘90s, Blink-182 was writing pop-punk gospel for the post-Gen X’ers too young to remember Beenie Man previously earned respect in his native Jamaica thanks to a role in 1997’s As soon as producer Jermaine Dupri brilliantly built Monica’s “The First Night” around Diana Ross’ 1976 disco classic “Love Hangover,” we all knew this was going to be a surefire success. Click here to listen on Deezer. Fine – tell me your story, Daryl. It was also a fine showcase of their harmonizing abilities, which helped BSB establish that they were -- and still are -- more than just a group of five heartthrobs with catchy songs. His debut set, The title track from the band's fourth album, but the first with lead vocalist Natalie Maines, features the best of what the Dixie Chicks have to offer: beautiful harmonies, an angsty-but-hopeful storyline, and a twangy violin break. The radio’s twin titans, Missy and Puffy, join forces on “Trippin'” to talk about how cool Total are – as if anyone could miss it. The latter -- which smartly served as the album's opener -- was and remains an undeniable bop. The guitar monsters, the rap bangers, the rump shakers, the soul jams. -- By the start of 1998, Shania Twain was clearly a major country success: She had five Hot Country Songs No. -- A year before newly minted pop stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera dominated the scene with their bubblegum anthems, Jennifer Paige played a major role in driving the sound of what was to come for the genre in Y2K. Produced and written by Timbaland and Static Major and sung by Aaliyah, the song was recorded like a dream. We had no trouble finding songs to love, to argue about, to put on mixtapes and pass around. Oasis - was 25 years ago this week! “It’s a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight/ So I guess I’m doing alright” is a timeless mood-booster, one that’s emphasized by Messina’s confident singing and the song’s breezy tempo -- all of which make “I’m Alright” a classic for fans of country and pop, whose worlds weren't that far removed in '98. The lowest charting singles to make the list both peaked at Number 8; Des'Ree's biggest hit Life places at 15, while club hit Looking For Love by Karen Ramirez is at 19. But Cher always gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to turning back time. The ascendance of Puff Daddy and the late Notorious B.I.G.

The fun-loving track spent three weeks atop the Hot 100 the spring of 1998 -- the same year Smith’s son Jaden was born. You can hear that excitement right in the music, which is why all 98 of these songs still sound so brilliant today. No shade, though: Whitney and Mimi sound excellent trading verses, and their harmonies are unclockable. Such is “I Get Lonely,” the third single from Twenty years later, the magic still resonates: the way the acoustic guitar and mandolin intertwine, the way each bass note lingers, the tug-of-war between the guitars and strings in the bridge, the climax of that skyward electric solo. McLachlan founded the Lilith Fair tour, yet these days she’s probably best known for her ballad “Angel,” even if everybody thinks it’s called “In the Arms of the Angels” – Cardi B and Eve sang it to each other on the Grammys red carpet in January, a true index of fame.