But the music? The Billboard Year-End Hot 100 of 1997 is a chaotic, glorious time capsule. It was a year where hip-hop met stadium rock (thanks to Puff Daddy), a one-hit-wonder dance craze refused to die, and a trio of blonde siblings taught the world that “MMMbop” was an actual word.
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Let’s break down the biggest songs of the year, the trends, and the acts that defined 1997. Here is how the year-end list shook out. Spoiler: The #1 song is not a ballad. billboard year-end hot 100 singles of 1997
In the age of the “sensitive singer-songwriter,” Jewel was queen. Billboard combined the two sides of this single into one entry. You couldn’t walk into a coffee shop or a dorm room without hearing her yodel-esque vibrato. Pure, unadulterated adult contemporary gold. But the music
And that next big thing was already waiting in the wings. In the age of the “sensitive singer-songwriter,” Jewel
The other massive tribute song of the year. Sampling The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” this was Puff’s eulogy for his friend The Notorious B.I.G. It was a haunting, pop-friendly rap elegy that proved hip-hop could dominate the Hot 100 for weeks on end.
The power ballad of the year. Diane Warren penned this monster, and Toni Braxton’s sultry, aching vocals made it an adult contemporary staple. If you were slow-dancing at a middle school dance in 1997, this was the song.