50 Fun Facts About 1992 Music

Which Philadelphia vocal group spent a then-record 13 weeks at number one in 1992 with End of the Road?

Boyz II Men cut the ballad for the soundtrack of the film Boomerang, and it finished 1992 as Billboard's number one song of the year.

Which country star wrote I Will Always Love You, the ballad Whitney Houston took to number one in late 1992?

Dolly Parton wrote it in 1973 as a professional farewell to her mentor Porter Wagoner, almost two decades before the film version made it a global smash.

Which Seattle rapper spent five weeks at number one in the summer of 1992 with Baby Got Back?

Sir Mix-a-Lot won the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance with the track, and only one single outsold it in the United States that year.

Which teenage rap duo, known for wearing clothes backwards, spent eight weeks at number one in 1992 with Jump?

Kris Kross were spotted at an Atlanta shopping mall by Jermaine Dupri, still a teenager himself, who went on to write and produce the hit.

Which Billy Ray Cyrus country crossover hit of 1992 pushed line dancing into the American mainstream?

Achy Breaky Heart had been released a year earlier by the Marcy Brothers under the title Don't Tell My Heart, without making much noise.

Which Eric Clapton ballad, a number two hit in 1992, was written after the death of his young son?

Tears in Heaven was co-written with Will Jennings for the film Rush, and it later won Grammys for both Record and Song of the Year.

Which 1992 comedy film sent Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody back up the Hot 100 to a new peak of number two?

Wayne's World has its heroes headbanging to the song in a car, and the tie-in video won Queen their only MTV Video Music Award.

Which British group, formed by two brothers who ran a London gym, hit number one in 1992 with I'm Too Sexy?

Right Said Fred took their name from a 1962 novelty hit by the actor Bernard Cribbins, and the single topped the Hot 100 for three weeks.

Which band's album Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous off the top of the Billboard 200 in January 1992?

Nirvana reached the top of the album chart in the same week that Smells Like Teen Spirit peaked at number six on the Hot 100.

On which American TV show did Sinéad O'Connor tear up a photograph of Pope John Paul II in October 1992?

Saturday Night Live had booked her to promote a new album, and her live protest against the Catholic Church drew thousands of complaints from viewers.

Which former Miss America spent five weeks at number one in 1992 with the ballad Save the Best for Last?

Vanessa Williams had been the first Black winner of the pageant in 1983, and the ballad gave her a first number one on the Hot 100.

Which Atlanta trio broke through in 1992 with the top ten hits Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg and Baby-Baby-Baby?

TLC released their debut album on LaFace Records in February 1992, and it went on to sell more than four million copies in the United States.

Which Oakland quartet's 1992 album Funky Divas produced the hits My Lovin' and Free Your Mind?

En Vogue gave Free Your Mind a heavy metal edge, while the album's first single ended 1992 inside Billboard's year-end top ten.

Madonna's 1992 chart-topper This Used to Be My Playground was the theme for which Penny Marshall film she starred in?

A League of Their Own had to leave the song off its soundtrack album for contractual reasons, so it surfaced on an Olympics compilation instead.

Which comedian played an Egyptian pharaoh in Michael Jackson's 1992 video for Remember the Time?

Eddie Murphy shared the nine-minute video with the model Iman and basketball star Magic Johnson, under the direction of John Singleton.

Mariah Carey's 1992 number one cover of I'll Be There was taped for which MTV concert series?

Unplugged paired her with backing singer Trey Lorenz on the old Jackson 5 hit, taped in March 1992 and released as a single that May.

Which Guns N' Roses epic became the longest song yet to reach the Hot 100 top ten in 1992?

November Rain runs to almost nine minutes and peaked at number three on the Hot 100.

Which Minneapolis star and his band the New Power Generation reached number three in 1992 with Diamonds and Pearls?

Prince also took the title track of his thirteenth album to the top of Billboard's R&B chart, with Rosie Gaines sharing the vocals.

Which singer joined George Michael on the live duet Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, a 1992 number one?

Elton John had first taken his own song to number two back in 1974, and the pair had already sung it together at Live Aid in 1985.

End of the Road's 13 weeks at number one in 1992 beat a Billboard record held since 1956 by which singer?

Elvis Presley had set the mark at 11 weeks with the double-sided single Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog, and it stood for 36 years.

Which singer, whose Humpin' Around reached number three in 1992, married Whitney Houston that July?

Bobby Brown had proposed the previous year, and the couple married at her estate on July 18, months before her first film opened.

Which Irish band launched the multimedia Zoo TV Tour in 1992 to support the album Achtung Baby?

U2 filled the stage with dozens of video screens to satirise television overload, and hung Trabant cars overhead as part of the lighting rig.

Which 1970s pop group's hits collection Gold, released in September 1992, went on to sell around 30 million copies?

ABBA had gone their separate ways a decade earlier, yet the compilation became the best-selling album of their whole career.

Which London venue hosted the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in April 1992, with Queen joined by guest singers?

Wembley Stadium staged the benefit for AIDS awareness five months after the singer's death, and an estimated one billion people watched the broadcast.

Which hip-hop trio, fronted by the rapper Everlast, reached number three in 1992 with Jump Around?

House of Pain got the beat from DJ Muggs, who had first made it for his own group Cypress Hill, whose rapper could not find words to fit it.

Which US state gave Arrested Development the title of their 1992 breakthrough hit, a Grammy-winning rap single?

Tennessee was where the group's leader Speech attended his grandmother's funeral, shortly before his brother also died, and he wrote the song about both losses.

Which Canadian singer reached the US top ten in 1992 with a duet of Disney's Beauty and the Beast?

Celine Dion sang it with Peabo Bryson for the film's end credits, and their single climbed to number nine on the Hot 100.

Which Tom Cochrane road anthem, a US top ten hit in 1992, was later covered by Rascal Flatts for Cars?

Life Is a Highway peaked at number six in August 1992 and remains the Canadian singer's only top 40 hit in the United States.

Which Los Angeles rock band topped the Hot 100 for three weeks in 1992 with the acoustic ballad To Be with You?

Mr. Big singer Eric Martin had written the song as a teenager, years before it became a number one in a dozen countries.

Which Oklahoma City vocal group scored their second number one in January 1992 with All 4 Love?

Color Me Badd started out as Take One, then changed the name to avoid confusion with the a cappella group Take 6.

Which Eurodance single by the German group Snap! spent six weeks at number one in the UK in 1992?

Rhythm Is a Dancer was the UK's second-biggest seller of 1992, and it stayed on the Hot 100 for 39 weeks, peaking at number five.

Which Havana-born singer, once a backup vocalist for Gloria Estefan, hit number five in 1992 with Just Another Day?

Jon Secada also recorded a Spanish version, Otro Día Más Sin Verte, which gave him a number one on Billboard's Latin chart.

Which Eagles singer duetted with Patty Smyth on Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough, a number two hit in 1992?

Don Henley had already used her as a backing singer on two of his solo albums, and their duet sat at number two for six weeks.

Which fictional TV band topped the Hot 100 in November 1992 with How Do You Talk to an Angel?

The Heights never found an audience on Fox, and the drama was cancelled one week after its theme song fell from number one.

Which Scottish singer, formerly of Eurythmics, launched her solo career in 1992 with the album Diva?

Annie Lennox saw the album enter the UK chart at number one, with Why and Walking on Broken Glass among its five singles.

Which British band reached the US top twenty in 1992 with Friday I'm in Love, from the album Wish?

The Cure singer Robert Smith described it as a very naive, happy type of pop song, and it topped Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Which country star's album The Chase entered the Billboard 200 at number one in October 1992?

Garth Brooks sold 403,000 copies of it in a single week, months after his Ropin' the Wind had logged its 18th week at the top.

Which Dr. Dre solo debut, released on Death Row Records in December 1992, helped launch Snoop Doggy Dogg?

The Chronic arrived on December 15 and gave the then-emerging rapper so many guest spots that it became the launch pad for his own career.

Which singer won three Grammys in February 1992 for Unforgettable, a virtual duet with her late father?

Natalie Cole sang alongside a 1951 recording of Nat King Cole, a trick she had been using in her live shows through the 1980s.

Which rock band's video for Right Now won Video of the Year at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards?

Van Halen's clip took three awards from seven nominations on the night, and the song was later used to advertise Crystal Pepsi.

Which country legend sang the verses of The KLF's Justified & Ancient, a dance hit on Billboard's 1992 year-end chart?

Tammy Wynette's unlikely team-up with the British duo reached number one in 18 countries and number 11 on the Hot 100.

Which sales-tracking system, first used for Billboard's Hot 100 in November 1991, powered the magazine's 1992 charts?

SoundScan replaced the manual sales reports Billboard had relied on, and it had already been driving the album chart since May 1991.

Which 18-year-old singer reached number two on the Hot 100 in February 1992 with I Love Your Smile?

Shanice had Janet Jackson laughing in the background of the track, which also topped Billboard's R&B singles chart for four weeks.

Which rock star released two separate albums, Human Touch and Lucky Town, on the same day in March 1992?

Bruce Springsteen made both without the E Street Band, which he had broken up in 1989, turning to Los Angeles studio musicians instead.

Which metal band co-headlined a 1992 stadium tour with Guns N' Roses, during which its singer was burned onstage?

Metallica frontman James Hetfield stepped into a pyrotechnic flash in Montreal, so a former roadie played his guitar parts for the rest of the tour.

Which British band placed three songs on Billboard's 1992 year-end Hot 100, led by I Can't Dance?

Genesis made a video poking fun at the models in jeans commercials, and the single reached number seven on the Hot 100.

Which singer, soon crowned the Queen of Hip Hop Soul, made her 1992 debut with the album What's the 411?

Mary J. Blige made the record with a young producer called Sean Combs, and its single Real Love became her first top ten hit.

Which band's 1977 hit Don't Stop became the theme song of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign?

Fleetwood Mac's song played during the balloon drop at the Democratic convention, and he later persuaded the band to perform it at his inaugural ball.

Which Los Angeles band reached number two in 1992 with Under the Bridge, a ballad that began as a poem?

Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis thought the poem too emotional for the band until producer Rick Rubin found it in his notebook.

Which Seattle band's debut album Ten climbed to number two on the Billboard 200 during 1992?

Pearl Jam's record was a slow burner, lifted by the singles Alive, Even Flow and Jeremy, whose video later won four MTV awards.