And then there was one. For the final round of Bracket Madness for the greatest artist of the 90s crown, Mariah Carey and TLC went head to head for the title. One woman with a five range octave and No. 1 hits that reach the double digits versus three women considered one of the greatest girl groups of all time. There are few matchups as great (and tough) as this pairing. In the end Mariah’s reign as the pop diva trumped the CrazySexyCool stardom of TLC.

No matter how you slice it, music in the 90s was heavenly. Mariah Carey’s win represents all that was right with music. She was, and is, a versatile pop singer that dabbled in the R&B sound, she could actually blow, she writes her own material and her songs are timeless. We’re hitting the play button on a little “me and Mariah, go back like babies and pacifiers” to honor her “Triumphant”

http://www.vh1.com/music/...f-the-90s/

Well...she was Congrats to Mimi

that is before things started to go downhill in 1997. But, prior to that, she was definately the greatest artist of the 90's.

kitbradley said:

that is before things started to go downhill in 1997. But, prior to that, she was definately the greatest artist of the 90's.

Hmm, I'd be inclined to agree, except that her stuff after 1997 is way better that the mess she's putting out now.

missfee said:

kitbradley said:

that is before things started to go downhill in 1997. But, prior to that, she was definately the greatest artist of the 90's.

Hmm, I'd be inclined to agree, except that her stuff after 1997 is way better that the mess she's putting out now.

Definately. I know a lot of people loved "Butterfly". While I have never ranked it amongst her best, it had it's moments. But, with the exception of "Mimi", it is a lot better than most of the albums she's released over the past 15 years.

kitbradley said:

missfee said:

Hmm, I'd be inclined to agree, except that her stuff after 1997 is way better that the mess she's putting out now.

Definately. I know a lot of people loved "Butterfly". While I have never ranked it amongst her best, it had it's moments. But, with the exception of "Mimi", it is a lot better than most of the albums she's released over the past 15 years.

I agree

I like Mariah... shes good singer and had alot of great songs in the 90s but I wouldnt call her The BEST of the 90s.... because she had alot more competition and female stars as well as male that received more success than her... Madonna, Michael, Janet, TLC, R.Kelly, etc but she definitly was ONE of them.

Its such a shame.... it appears TLC and Janet (currently)... especially TLC never get their props they deserve. I think any one of those artists could be called the greatest artist of the 90s.

[Edited 8/14/12 7:26am]

mjscarousal said:

I like Mariah... shes good singer and had alot of great songs in the 90s but I wouldnt call her The BEST of the 90s.... because she had alot more competition and female stars as well as male that received more success than her... Madonna, Michael, Janet, TLC, R.Kelly, etc but she definitly was ONE of them.

Its such a shame.... it appears TLC and Janet (currently)... especially TLC never get their props they deserve. I think any one of those artists could be called the greatest artist of the 90s.

[Edited 8/14/12 7:26am]

DOn't know, I think Mariah had the most success of them all. 3 albums combined sold more than 70 million worldwide and she scored 18 (!) US top 10 hits. Although the artist you mentioned had great succes, none of them sold this much.

Problem with Mariah is, it's all skyradio music. I never know which song is from which album, because it all sounds the same. You can't say that about Janet or TLC.

robertlove said:

mjscarousal said:

I like Mariah... shes good singer and had alot of great songs in the 90s but I wouldnt call her The BEST of the 90s.... because she had alot more competition and female stars as well as male that received more success than her... Madonna, Michael, Janet, TLC, R.Kelly, etc but she definitly was ONE of them.

Its such a shame.... it appears TLC and Janet (currently)... especially TLC never get their props they deserve. I think any one of those artists could be called the greatest artist of the 90s.

[Edited 8/14/12 7:26am]

DOn't know, I think Mariah had the most success of them all. 3 albums combined sold more than 70 million worldwide and she scored 18 (!) US top 10 hits. Although the artist you mentioned had great succes, none of them sold this much.

Problem with Mariah is, it's all skyradio music. I never know which song is from which album, because it all sounds the same. You can't say that about Janet or TLC.

Good Point

and Which 3?

When I said success I meant as far as impact as well. Im not dissing Mariah.. I really like her especially in the 90s!

My point was I could see someone else arguing the title amongs the artists I listed because it was alot of popular acts during the 90s that experiences success in other ways besides just the radio.

Garth Brooks

Michael Bolton

Mariah Carey

Celine Dion

Pretty much the juggernauts of the 90s pop radio. Of the group, Mariah and Garth had the most cross over success, in terms of demographics.

mjscarousal said:

robertlove said:

DOn't know, I think Mariah had the most success of them all. 3 albums combined sold more than 70 million worldwide and she scored 18 (!) US top 10 hits. Although the artist you mentioned had great succes, none of them sold this much.

Problem with Mariah is, it's all skyradio music. I never know which song is from which album, because it all sounds the same. You can't say that about Janet or TLC.

Good Point

and Which 3?

When I said success I meant as far as impact as well. Im not dissing Mariah.. I really like her especially in the 90s!

My point was I could see someone else arguing the title amongs the artists I listed because it was alot of popular acts during the 90s that experiences success in other ways besides just the radio.

True, with sales Mariah wins...with impact she's way under. I mean, she was always a Whitney oart II to me.

mjscarousal said:

I like Mariah... shes good singer and had alot of great songs in the 90s but I wouldnt call her The BEST of the 90s.... because she had alot more competition and female stars as well as male that received more success than her... Madonna, Michael, Janet, TLC, R.Kelly, etc but she definitly was ONE of them.

Its such a shame.... it appears TLC and Janet (currently)... especially TLC never get their props they deserve. I think any one of those artists could be called the greatest artist of the 90s.

[Edited 8/14/12 7:26am]

Mariah was more successful in the 90's than all those artists you named.

She had a:

-9x plat album

-4x plat album

-dimaond album

-another diamond album...

-5x plat album

-3x plat album

-18 top 10 pop hits (including 14 of them or so going #1).

-longest running #1 pop song in billboard history of the 90s

etc.

What kind of impact did TLC have? Didn't they only record like 3 albums? I have to think really hard to name even 2 of their songs. Janet may have had an impact as a dancer/stage performer, but as a singer? I don't think so.

kitbradley said:

What kind of impact did TLC have? Didn't they only record like 3 albums? I have to think really hard to name even 2 of their songs. Janet may have had an impact as a dancer/stage performer, but as a singer? I don't think so.

Exactly. there were a lot of female artist who copied stuff from her.

kitbradley said:

What kind of impact did TLC have? Didn't they only record like 3 albums? I have to think really hard to name even 2 of their songs. Janet may have had an impact as a dancer/stage performer, but as a singer? I don't think so.

Well I did say besides music

The accolades that DC's gets.... TLC really deserves. Nothing major but they were the biggest saling girl group for a while until DC came and not to mention they were a "real group" unlike DC who was mostly centered around Beyonce and they had alot of great tunes.

mrjun18 said:

mjscarousal said:

I like Mariah... shes good singer and had alot of great songs in the 90s but I wouldnt call her The BEST of the 90s.... because she had alot more competition and female stars as well as male that received more success than her... Madonna, Michael, Janet, TLC, R.Kelly, etc but she definitly was ONE of them.

Its such a shame.... it appears TLC and Janet (currently)... especially TLC never get their props they deserve. I think any one of those artists could be called the greatest artist of the 90s.

[Edited 8/14/12 7:26am]

Mariah was more successful in the 90's than all those artists you named.

She had a:

-9x plat album

-4x plat album

-dimaond album

-another diamond album...

-5x plat album

-3x plat album

-18 top 10 pop hits (including 14 of them or so going #1).

-longest running #1 pop song in billboard history of the 90s

etc.

Fair enough... I wasnt specifically just speaking on sales though but thanks for info

Pretty well deserved, if you asked me.

And how exactly that she didn't have an impact when most of these younger artists - mainstream or indie - cite her as an influence?

Furthermore, what constitutes as an impact? And how can you measure it?

And no, I think the whole "Nippy Pt.II" is just a lazy comparision based on what the critics created/said. If anything, Mariah seem to have more individuality in her music than Whitney, who on the other hand reflected the sound of the producer that was handling her at the time and was from the "I'll sing when you push the recording buttons and I'll be outta here once I'm finished" tradition, while Mariah had more creative freedom in her craft.

mjscarousal said:

Its such a shame.... it appears TLC and Janet (currently)... especially TLC never get their props they deserve. I think any one of those artists could be called the greatest artist of the 90s.

[Edited 8/14/12 7:26am]

I think they deserve the accolades also. But in her case, she was pretty prolific and consistent material-wise, whereas they took long gaps between their projects.

When it comes to the 1990's, it was always down between Mariah & Shania. No surprise here.

Dauphin said:

Garth Brooks

Michael Bolton

Mariah Carey

Celine Dion

Pretty much the juggernauts of the 90s pop radio. Of the group, Mariah and Garth had the most cross over success, in terms of demographics.

I know Garth Brooks had massive sales but I have never heard a Garth Brooks song on the radio or seen a Garth Brooks video. Ever. To me he's a very localised Middle America phenomenon.

Harlepolis said:

Pretty well deserved, if you asked me.

And how exactly that she didn't have an impact when most of these younger artists - mainstream or indie - cite her as an influence?

Furthermore, what constitutes as an impact? And how can you measure it?

And no, I think the whole "Nippy Pt.II" is just a lazy comparision based on what the critics created/said. If anything, Mariah seem to have more individuality in her music than Whitney, who on the other hand reflected the sound of the producer that was handling her at the time and was from the "I'll sing when you push the recording buttons and I'll be outta here once I'm finished" tradition, while Mariah had more creative freedom in her craft.

Considering how much strong albums she made (Daydream and Emotions are two of the decade's best), I guess you could consider number one. Definetly the biggest artist of the decade that's for sure. Personally I think Celine should have one but hey

Really isn't Nirvana the real Artist of the '90s?

mynameisnotsusan said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

Really isn't Nirvana the real Artist of the '90s?

IIRC there were only 8 artists total in this bracket, and they were all very commercial and mainstream. BFD at the whole thing.

It's always funny to me that only USA and UK acts are the "greatest". I doubt Mariah, Garth, or Nirvana are that relevant to music in China, Africa, India, Argentina, etc.