Skip to Main Content

Hot 100 Singles Of 1997 | Billboard Year-end

In the age of the “sensitive singer-songwriter,” Jewel was queen. Billboard combined the two sides of this single into one entry. You couldn’t walk into a coffee shop or a dorm room without hearing her yodel-esque vibrato. Pure, unadulterated adult contemporary gold.

Let’s break down the biggest songs of the year, the trends, and the acts that defined 1997. Here is how the year-end list shook out. Spoiler: The #1 song is not a ballad.

And that next big thing was already waiting in the wings. billboard year-end hot 100 singles of 1997

[Social Share Buttons: Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest]

Before NSYNC and Britney took over, 1997 was a glorious mess of Puff Daddy, Spice Girls, Hanson, and the Macarena. Revisit the complete top 10 and the biggest trends of the year. If you were alive in 1997, you remember the vibe. It was the bridge between the grungy, cynical ’90s and the glossy, TRL-driven boy band era about to explode. It was the year of Titanic , beanie babies, and the first glimpse of a DVD. In the age of the “sensitive singer-songwriter,” Jewel

billboard-year-end-hot-100-1997

Rewind: The Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1997 (Pop’s Last Great Weird Year) Pure, unadulterated adult contemporary gold

The other massive tribute song of the year. Sampling The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” this was Puff’s eulogy for his friend The Notorious B.I.G. It was a haunting, pop-friendly rap elegy that proved hip-hop could dominate the Hot 100 for weeks on end.