JANUARY
Top hit
Un-Break My Heart · Toni Braxton
Top album
Tragic Kingdom · No Doubt
Year
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One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Pop factory revival
1997
Spice Girls launch girl-power chants, boy bands sharpen choreography, and hip-hop turns grief into anthems while Radiohead reminds albums still matter.
Spice Girls, Boy Band Boom
Girl power meets boy-band precision — the charts rediscover the joy of a choreographed hook and a slogan you can't stop chanting. Hip-hop and R&B keep pushing forward with Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy turning grief into anthems, while Radiohead reminds the album format it still matters. Pop becomes a team sport again. Pop becomes a team sport again, and the chants are loud enough to drown out the cynics.
- Spice Girls
- boy bands
- Notorious B.I.G.
- Radiohead
- pop revival
- Spice Girls' 'Wannabe' launches global girl-power pop
- Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Life After Death' released days after his murder
- Radiohead's 'OK Computer' redefines alternative ambition
- Hanson's 'MMMBop' proves teen pop can charm adults
Hot 100 · weeks at #1
Top songs
Album chart · weeks at #1
Top albums
Through the year
Tap a month to drill into chart weeks.
FEBRUARY
Top hit
Un-Break My Heart · Toni Braxton
Top album
Tragic Kingdom · No Doubt
MARCH
Top hit
Wannabe · Spice Girls
Top album
Unchained Melody/The Early Years · Leann Rimes
APRIL
Top hit
Can't Nobody Hold Me Down · Puff Daddy
Top album
Nine Lives · Aerosmith
MAY
Top hit
Hypnotize · The Notorious B.i.g
Top album
Share My World · Mary J. Blige
JUNE
Top hit
MMMBop · Hanson
Top album
Spice · Spice Girls
JULY
Top hit
I'll Be Missing You · Puff Daddy
Top album
Spice · Spice Girls
AUGUST
Top hit
I'll Be Missing You · Puff Daddy
Top album
The Art Of War · Bone Thugs-n-harmony
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
Mo Money Mo Problems · The Notorious B.i.g
Top album
The Dance · Fleetwood Mac
OCTOBER
Top hit
4 Seasons Of Loneliness · Boyz Ii Men
Top album
Butterfly · Mariah Carey
NOVEMBER
Top hit
Candle In The Wind 1997/Something About The Way You Look Tonight · Elton John
Top album
You Light Up My Life -- Inspirational Songs · Leann Rimes
DECEMBER
Top hit
Candle In The Wind 1997/Something About The Way You Look Tonight · Elton John
Top album
ReLoad · Metallica
Voices of the year
- Elton John
- Puff Daddy
- Toni Braxton
- Spice Girls
- The Notorious B.i.g
- Hanson
