Top-Selling Singles of the 90s You Secretly Remember
The 90s didn’t do subtle. Loud hair, oversized jeans, and the uncanny ability to turn every feeling into a chart-topping anthem. The music was no different. Some singles sold millions, embedding themselves into pop culture whether we wanted them to or not.
Think you’ve moved on? These hits say otherwise. A list of the decade’s mega-sellers, soundtracking everything from weddings to funerals, football chants, and your teenage existential crisis.
1. Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight – Elton John
Elton reworked his Marilyn Monroe tribute into a lament for Princess Diana. It was played at her funeral and promptly became Britain’s collective tearjerker. With 4.94 million copies sold, it’s still the UK’s all-time bestseller. Diana might’ve cringed, but history clearly doesn’t care.
2. Love Is All Around – Wet Wet Wet
Four Weddings and a Funeral gave us stammering Hugh Grant; Wet Wet Wet gave us this Troggs’ cover. Marti Pellow’s syrupy tones clung to Number 1 for 15 weeks until the band pulled it from circulation out of sheer exhaustion. Smart move.
3. (Everything I Do) I Do It for You – Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams outlived Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with this ballad. Sixteen weeks at Number 1, a record no one’s dared (or wanted) to break. Peak cringe, somehow peak success.
4. Unchained Melody/White Cliffs of Dover – Robson & Jerome
Robson Green and Jerome Flynn were just actors on Soldier Soldier until Simon Cowell decided otherwise. Their cover of Unchained Melody topped the charts, shifted 1.87 million copies, and annoyed everyone under 40. Your mum loved it, though.
5. Barbie Girl – Aqua
"Life in plastic, it’s fantastic!" Apparently, so were Aqua. This 1997 novelty hit sold 1.86 million copies and became a karaoke staple. Admit it you sang it into a hairbrush and hate yourself a little for it.
6. Believe – Cher
Auto-tune. Disco beats. Cher telling heartbreak to do one. Believe was the proto-club banger of the late 90s, shifting 1.85 million copies. Don’t lie you’ve belted out "Do you believe in life after love?" at least once.
7. I’ll Be Missing You – Puff Daddy & Faith Evans
A mournful tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., sampling The Police for good measure. It sold 1.68 million copies and became an anthem of grief and nostalgia. A moment in hip-hop history we all felt.
8. Three Lions – Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds
Football’s unofficial anthem. First released for Euro ’96, then back to Number 1 in 1998 and 2018. Football might never come home, but this tune keeps the dream alive.
9. I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston
Whitney transformed Dolly Parton’s country ballad into a vocal hurricane for The Bodyguard. It sold 1.67 million copies. You tried to hit the high note. You failed.
10. Gangsta’s Paradise – Coolio featuring L.V.
Coolio kicked things off with that "valley of the shadow of death" line and never let up. A haunting, soulful look at life’s struggles, selling 1.61 million copies. Proof that the 90s weren’t just fun and games they also had depth.
Recommended Listening: Coolio’s *Gangsta’s Paradise*
Coolio and L.V. crafted something raw and unforgettable. The lyrics hit hard. The hook lingers. It’s a reminder that music can make you think as much as it makes you feel. Play it now. Let it remind you why the 90s still matter.
