Can You Ace Our ’90s Music Quiz?

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the breakout single from Nirvana’s 1991 album, “Nevermind.” Kurt Cobain’s ex-girlfriend, Tobi Vail, was at a grocery store with friend Kathleen Hanna when they discovered the deodorant brand Teen Spirit. Because she was amused by the name, Hanna later wrote “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit” on a wall in Cobain’s apartment. Although he later used the phrase for a song title, Cobain said he didn’t know Teen Spirit was a deodorant until after the song was released.

Mariah Carey had at least 15 number one hits in the ’90s, including “Fantasy,” “Always Be My Baby,” “Hero,” “Emotions” and “Dreamlover.” Perhaps her biggest hit of all time, however, is her holiday bop “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” First released in 1994, the song didn’t reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 until December 2019, but it stayed there until January 2020 — making Carey the first artist to have a No. 1 song in four different decades: the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

Whether it’s the bands’ comparable vocal stylings, shared melodies or similar hair and fashion, fans and critics have associated English rockers Oasis with the Beatles. Frontman Noel Gallagher rejects the comparison, but admits that the Beatles “mean everything” to him. “Their influence is absolute,” he said in 2021. Even the band’s hit song “Wonderwall” is a nod to the Beatles — it’s a reference to George Harrison’s solo debut, the 1968 predominately instrumental “Wonderwall Music.”

“Waterfalls” was the third single from TLC’s second album, 1994’s “CrazySexyCool.” The song is a cautionary tale about harmful behaviors like drug abuse and unprotected sex. “Anything that’s self-destructive, that’s chasing a waterfall,” group member Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas told British newspaper The Guardian in a 2018 interview.

Alanis Morissette released the breakout album in 1995. Some 20 years later, screenwriter Diablo Cody turned the Grammy-winning record into a Tony Award-winning  musical based on megahits like “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket” and “Ironic.”