1990s

Among the most successful pop acts of the 1990s were R&B-influenced pop acts such as Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, Boyz II Men, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, En Vogue, Salt N Pepa, MC Hammer, C&C Music Factory, Brandy, and TLC. Non-R&B artists such as Cher, Michael Bolton, Robbie Williams, Luther Vandross, Elton John, Alanis Morissette, George Michael, Madonna, Shania Twain, Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Selena, Ace of Base, Celine Dion, Nádine, Sheryl Crow, Kim Wilde and Jewel were also phenomenonally successful during that decade. Mariah Carey became the most popular and the best-selling artist of the 90's, spanning 14 no.1 hits in the billboard Hot 100 in US alone more that any other female artist in the history.

The 1990s and 21st century were marked by a resurgence of boy band and girl group trends. The U.S. had New Edition, Color Me Badd, New Kids on the Block (in the late 1980s and early 1990s), followed by the Backstreet Boys often referred to as 'the bestselling boy band' of all time and their album Millennium which sold 40 million album worldwide, Hanson, *NSYNC, 98 Degrees and the biggest pop girl band phenomenon of all time the Spice Girls, who are often credited by critics as the revival of pop music in the US. They are the most famous girl group of all time.

Towards the turn of the millennium, the "pop princesses" appeared such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Robyn, and Willa Ford. From the UK came the likes of Take That, Steps, Billie Piper and S Club 7, while Australia had Kylie Minogue and Savage Garden. Irish boy bands during this period included Boyzone and Westlife. 1999 saw the rise of the Latin pop explosion with Ricky Martin and Shakira at the forefront, followed by Jennifer Lopez, Thalía, Luis Miguel, Enrique Iglesias, Paulina Rubio, and Marc Anthony. Also, there were many pop bands from continental Europe that found their way to topping worldwide charts, such as Aqua (Denmark), a-ha (Norway), Los del Río (Spain), and A*Teens (Sweden).

The 1990s also saw the beginnings of a surgence in pop into the Asian market, known as J-pop, as originated from Japan. Utada Hikaru and Namie Amuro each sold over 50 million in their respective Asian markets.