'90s Ladies

It was 1995 when Alanis Morissette lobbed a musical Molotov cocktail called "You Oughta Know" and immolated the idea of what a female pop star should be. It wasn't just Alanis, though, who made the '90s one of the best-ever decades for women in the music world. Eighties lady Madonna ("Ray of Light") proved her staying power at the end of the century, while country crossed over big-time in tunes like Faith Hill's "This Kiss," and a teen queen named Britney reigned supreme with a little ditty called "…Baby One More Time."

If you think there are just too many great '90s ladies for one playlist alone…you're right. More fabulous females await in Next Steps.

Dreamy, cream-puff pop stars Wilson Phillips kicked off the '90s in high style with their harmony-soaked "Hold On," but variety was the name of the game as the decade danced on. After years of making music, a bluesy Bonnie Raitt hit her stride, racking up hits like "Something to Talk About," while newcomer Mary J. Blige sang about "Real Love" and announced to the world that a new soul diva had arrived. The Breeders fired up an alterna-rock "Cannonball," and singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin shone on "Sunny Came Home."

Don't let the sonic time travel end here — take the next step to Deep Cuts for more great '90s ladies.

You simply have to love a decade that gives you the ultimate in triple-threat superstars (Jennifer Lopez and "If You Had My Love"), rough-edged indie chicks (Liz Phair and "Supernova"), hip-hop high priestesses (Missy Elliott and "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)"), and one-of-a-kind Icelandic pixies (Björk and "It's Oh So Quiet"). Portishead may complain that "nobody loves me" on the hypnotic "Sour Times," but we love all of our wild and wonderful '90s ladies.

It was the last decade of the 20th century — heck, it was the last decade of the millennium. A whole history of great music was crammed into those ten years as our '90s ladies laid claim to their share of the spotlight like never before. Rockers like PJ Harvey ("Down by the Water") and Luscious Jackson ("Naked Eye") threw off girl-band labels and established serious rock credentials; while divas like Whitney Houston ("I Will Always Love You"), Celine Dion ("Because You Loved Me"), and diva-in-training Christina Aguilera ("Genie in a Bottle") owned the airwaves like they were born to it. Hip-hop machismo gave way to girl-power groundbreakers and hip-shakers like Lauryn Hill ("Doo Wop (That Thing)") and TLC ("Waterfalls"), and — well, we could go on, but the best way to discover our timeless '90s ladies is to listen for yourself.