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Music by Year, 1990–2009

One fact per year about the music industry. Can you guess them all?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 23, 2019
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First submittedAugust 19, 2013
Times taken89,117
Average score60.0%
Rating4.15
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Year
Hint
Answer
2009
Rapper who interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards
Kanye West
2008
Single lady who Jay-Z put a ring on
Beyoncé Knowles
2007
Band that released the album "In Rainbows" as a pay-what-you-want download
Radiohead
2006
Former boy band member who claimed that he was "bringing sexy back"
Justin Timberlake
2005
Cartoon band who released their album "Demon Days"
Gorillaz
2004
Disheveled backup dancer that Britney Spears married
Kevin Federline
2003
Rap duo who released their double album, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below"
Outkast
2002
American pop group who added Fergie as their fourth member
The Black Eyed Peas
2001
mp3 player which was released to near-universal acclaim
iPod
2000
Rapper who was shot nine times in Queens, but survived
50 Cent
1999
"Miseducated" singer who won five Grammy awards
Lauryn Hill
1998
Girl group which Geri Halliwell left
The Spice Girls
1997
Celebrity whose death Elton John memorialized in an adapted
version of "Candle in the Wind"
Princess Diana
1996
Rapper who was shot and killed in Las Vegas
Tupac Shakur
1995
Song by Los del Río which became a dance craze at stadium events
across America
Macarena
1994
Grunge icon who committed suicide
Kurt Cobain
1993
Swedish group whose album "The Sign" sold over 20 million copies
Ace of Base
1992
Singer with a shaved head who destroyed a picture of the pope
on "Saturday Night Live"
Sinead O'Connor
1991
Metal band who released their "Black Album"
Metallica
1990
Trio of male opera singers who performed together for the first time
The Three Tenors
+2
Level 29
Sep 27, 2013
Love how i only know 93 from Pitch Perfect
+2
Level 72
Feb 29, 2016
I've never seen that movie. I just clearly remember hearing that song on the radio over and over again
+1
Level 82
Sep 27, 2013
Got everything except Outkast and Radiohead... should have guessed Radiohead. Had no idea about Outkast, didn't even know they were a duo.
+11
Level 62
Dec 6, 2017
That's too bad, they were great for a period of a few years...Mrs. Jackson, Bombs over Baghdad...Their album prior to the one mentioned (Stankonia) was my favorite...I would recommend checking it out.
+1
Level 48
Apr 22, 2014
I didn't know 50 Cent got shot. I also thought that Pope thing happened way earlier.
+6
Level 72
Feb 29, 2016
you must never have heard any of the man's music. He like to bring up the fact that he got shot at every chance he gets. makes him look like a tough guy I guess :s
+7
Level 82
Dec 6, 2017
Please accept "Fiddy"
+3
Level 73
Dec 17, 2018
I just tried it too lol
+3
Level 66
Jan 25, 2019
Funny that you know 50 that well but don't know Outkast.
+3
Level 67
Mar 24, 2018
"All the kids saying '50, you tough.' Nine shots just wasn't enough."
+4
Level 83
May 17, 2014
"Music" is being used very loosely for this quiz. Celebrity people in the music industry is more like it.
+21
Level 72
Jan 16, 2020
Ugh, there's always one... Public service announcement: The music you like is not the only music in the world.
+11
Level 76
Jan 16, 2020
You misunderstand. They're saying most questions aren't strictly about music (though the quiz description does say it's about the music industry, making all questions valid). There's no mention of music quality. So PSA, learn how to read before coming to erroneous conclusions.
+1
Level 83
Apr 21, 2020
well done tom88 .great comment.
+1
Level 16
May 28, 2020
calm down
+4
Level 68
Dec 29, 2014
Well... at least Beiber isn't on here.
+1
Level 74
Dec 10, 2018
Yeah, I was shocked. But I guessed Timberlake, Swift and Gaga without looking at the hints and surprise surprise.
+4
Level 89
Jan 16, 2020
Bieber didn't really explode into popularity until Baby came out, which was early 2010.
+2
Level 44
Dec 30, 2014
TAYLOR SWIFT!!! :D
+2
Level 33
Jan 20, 2015
You should accept Lady Di too!!
+1
Level 85
Jul 20, 2015
this was fun....got 100%
+1
Level 69
Sep 27, 2015
Diana was the best actress the world as seen
+1
Level 72
Nov 18, 2015
Until now I thought it was spelled "ace of bass" like "bass guitar" but I looked it up and I was wrong
+1
Level 69
Dec 27, 2015
Is Outkast really rap?
+5
Level 72
Feb 29, 2016
yes, they are just more creative than most rappers when it comes to the music aspect, as opposed to the lyrical aspect. So they have a different sound
+1
Level 82
Dec 6, 2017
yes but Kanye is not. Kanye is just a tool. Can't rap for crap.
+7
Level 66
May 30, 2018
love you kal but bad take.
+2
Level 89
Jan 16, 2020
Say what you will about Kanye but I think he's better than most modern rappers you hear nowadays. Or at least he was when he started out. I don't really know what people think of his music now.
+1
Level 82
Jun 26, 2020
bleh. he sucks.
+3
Level 66
Dec 27, 2015
Read the top 5 and didn't get one so i stopped.
+1
Level 65
Sep 29, 2019
That is why i started at the bottom haha, didnt get the top four when i reached them. Up untill 2001 I was doing pretty good (only missed lauren hill, thought of the fugees but moved on, and macarena), but after that it was a bit hit and miss.
+1
Level 75
Jan 16, 2020
I scored one point and was surprised to get that. I'm learning from quizzes like this.
+1
Level 54
Dec 28, 2015
Needs to be changed - Speakerboxx/The Love Below is NOT Outkast's final album!

Also, more subjectively, Princess Diana shouldn't be known as a 'celebrity'. She's a royal first and foremost.

+3
Level 65
Sep 29, 2019
She is a woman first, a brit second and who cares what else she is (not that those matter either, they were just an example). Besides the beatles she was one of the most famous and followed people for a while. If there were facebook fanpages back then she would have one..
+2
Level 74
May 20, 2016
Ohhh it's a *pop" music quiz. Blerg.
+2
Level 63
Sep 20, 2016
A lot of the answers aren't even pop related.
+2
Level 86
Nov 14, 2019
Yeah, like... two?
+10
Level ∞
Nov 2, 2017
Feel free to make classical music by year, 1990-present. Doubt many would find it interesting.
+5
Level 65
Sep 29, 2019
I would !
+4
Level 75
Jan 16, 2020
Classical music from the Classical period would be a good quiz, though. (Around 1730-1830) Most people would recognize at least a few songs from Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, etc.
+2
Level 67
Jan 17, 2020
I actually really like that idea, Ander. I think maybe "by decade" from that period is more feasible, but I will give it a shot.
+1
Level 16
May 28, 2020
classical music isnt the only other genre besides pop.
+7
Level 82
Dec 6, 2017
Or an unpopular music by year quiz would be good, too.
+4
Level ∞
Nov 13, 2019
1999: This band releases its best-selling album "Human Clay".
+2
Level 86
Nov 14, 2019
I know of incredible bands which never had the luck of selling much (namely The Sound, but there are less tragic examples).
+2
Level 74
Dec 10, 2018
Relax everybody. I'm only blerging because my pop music knowledge peters out in the 50s. That blerg is the sound of one brain clapping.
+2
Level ∞
Nov 13, 2019
Check out this non-featured quiz I made for the nonagenarians among you! Music by Year, 1930-1949.
+1
Level 75
Jan 16, 2020
I'm not 90 yet and I only scored 55%, but it was still a fun quiz and I'd like to see it featured.
+1
Level 16
May 28, 2020
yeah i dont listen to pop or follow pop at all, so I only got the Ipod one. surprised i didn't get some of them though, i knew it after.
+1
Level 60
Jun 2, 2016
Feel like this should accept K Fed for Britney's ex.
+1
Level 92
Oct 4, 2016
It accepted that for me.
+1
Level 45
Jun 15, 2016
I cannot believe I didn't get Taylor Swift. I even thought about her and just didn't bother typing it (which I do all the frickin time!)
+1
Level 48
Feb 25, 2018
I got it -- by entering it for the wrong question. Whatever works.
+1
Level 85
Oct 8, 2016
i love music trivia....got all with 2 minutes remaining
+1
Level 62
Oct 30, 2016
"This "miseducated" singer wins 5 Grammy's" Get that apostrophe out of there.
+1
Level ∞
Nov 2, 2017
Okay
+3
Level 62
Nov 20, 2019
Thank you for no longer being miseducated.
+2
Level 41
Jul 22, 2017
Accept Ms. Lauryn Hill for Lauryn Hill please?
+1
Level 82
Nov 8, 2017
LOL
+3
Level 71
Dec 6, 2017
A minor thing, but Macarena was really a global phenomenon.
+1
Level 62
Dec 6, 2017
Could not for the life of me spell Gangnam Style
+1
Level 63
Feb 12, 2018
I'm surprised at how few people got The Three Tenors correct, since this site seems full of pretentious w**kers who are always taking every opportunity they can see (and they do this even when they don't) to bemoan the current generation of pop singers.
+1
Level 67
Jan 17, 2020
That's the irony about people like that though. They think the pop music *they* grew up with is the highest form of art. They bemoan how nothing is as good as the Beatles, as though Mozart et al. didn't exist. Classical musicians must have a hearty laugh when someone exclaims that 20th-century rock music is the "real music."
+1
Level 64
Sep 5, 2022
the antagonism of bad pop is not necessarily classical music
+1
Level 44
Feb 25, 2018
Diana's title was never "Princess Diana", that was just was the Press and uneducated called her. Her correct title was "Diana, Princess of Wales".

The title "Princess Xxxx" is reserved for a Princess of the Blood (i.e. born as one) like Eugenie, Anne and Beatrice.

+3
Level 34
Mar 18, 2018
BEYONCE MY QUEEN
+1
Level 86
Nov 14, 2019
I don't know what was changed recently, but this one is rather varied (with a bunch of UK questions, and also Sweden, Ireland, Spain and Italy ^^).
+2
Level ∞
Nov 14, 2019
It was originally 1990-present, but that was getting a bit long so I created a new quiz 2010-present.
+1
Level 79
Jan 17, 2020
Music died with Cobain.
+1
Level 82
Jan 23, 2020
That was the month after the release of The Downward Spiral, but still 5 years before The Fragile which is the greatest album ever recorded so I'd have to disagree.
+1
Level 67
May 12, 2020
Lauryn Hill is probably the best female rapper and she can sing hella good too
+1
Level 59
Dec 29, 2023
I thought No Doubt sang "Hella Good"
+1
Level 77
Apr 19, 2021
I have had to type out the Black Eyed Peas in full way too many times. Could you consider accepting BEP for them?
+2
Level 64
Sep 5, 2022
how possible Radiohead comes as the least guessed? 😑😒
+1
Level 70
Dec 27, 2023
never heard of outkast, lauryn hill, three tenors or kevin federline. 90s were clearly before my time
+2
Level 51
Dec 27, 2023
Yikes, way to brag about your ignorance I guess?
+2
Level 52
Dec 27, 2023
Not really a music quiz
+1
Level 51
Dec 27, 2023
It should be "single lady WHOM Jay-Z put a ring on."
+1
Level 44
Dec 28, 2023
Elton John's "Candle In the Wind" was about Marlyn Monroe. Norma Jeane was her real name.
+1
Level 59
Dec 29, 2023
He released a version called "Candle in the Wind '97." That's why it says "adapted version."