Every #1 Song of 1997
Mo Money, Mo Emotions, and the Year the ’90s Started Saying Goodbye
By 1997, things were weird—in the best way. We were still reeling from Kurt’s absence, burning CDs on our sketchy Compaq PCs, and maybe working at Blockbuster or folding jeans at The Gap. We were mourning, partying, falling in love, and still trying to understand what Puff Daddy meant by “take hits from the ’80s… and make ’em sound so crazy.”
This was a year where heartbreak anthems sat beside hip-hop tributes, and bubblegum pop was sneaking back in like a familiar sitcom rerun.
Let’s dig into the #1 songs that defined 1997—and how they hit us right in the Gen X soul.
📅 January 4 – March 8
“Un-Break My Heart” – Toni Braxton
Genre: Power Ballad / Soul Shattering
Toni carried her torch of heartbreak straight into the new year. If you weren’t still sobbing into your flannel pillowcase, were you even trying?
💔 Gen X Mood: Emotional hangover from 1996. Still refusing to be okay.
📅 March 9 – May 17
“Wannabe” – Spice Girls
Genre: Pop / Girl Power Explosion
This is when things got spicy. Suddenly, your little sister was in a Union Jack dress and saying “zig-a-zig-ah” with zero explanation. Love it or hate it, the Spice Invasion had begun.
✌️ Gen X Reaction: Confused but intrigued. “Is this bubblegum… or empowerment?” Both. Welcome to 1997.
📅 May 18 – May 24
“Hypnotize” – The Notorious B.I.G.
Genre: Hip-Hop / East Coast Royalty
Smooth, stylish, and gone too soon. Biggie’s swagger was unmatched, and this track was a victory lap before tragedy struck.
🖤 Gen X Note: This wasn’t just a hit. It became a eulogy in real time.
📅 May 25 – June 14
“MMMBop” – Hanson
Genre: Pop / Sunshine Overload
Yes, three mop-haired brothers from Tulsa blew up our radios with a song that was 90% nonsense syllables—and we couldn’t stop singing it.
☀️ Gen X Feeling: Mild identity crisis. We were into Nirvana. Now we’re humming Hanson? Help.
📅 June 15 – August 30
“I’ll Be Missing You” – Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112
Genre: Hip-Hop Ballad / Tribute
Sampling The Police and honoring Biggie, this was one of the most emotional #1s of the decade. It hit like a late-night letter to a lost friend.
🕯️ Gen X Heartbreak Scale: Infinite. This was our candlelight vigil anthem.
📅 August 31 – September 13
“Mo Money Mo Problems” – The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Mase
Genre: Hip-Hop / Flashy Sadness
Back-to-back Biggie. And while the beat was danceable, the message was dark: fame doesn’t fix pain. Still, you couldn’t help but groove.
💸 Gen X Translation: Capitalism’s catchy. Also: shiny suits.
📅 September 14 – October 11
“Honey” – Mariah Carey
Genre: R&B / Glamorous Reinvention
This is when Mariah truly flipped the switch. Gone was the girl-next-door—this was yacht-hopping, champagne-popping Mariah. And we were living for it.
🍯 Gen X Thought: She didn’t just break out. She slipped out, in a wetsuit.
📅 October 12 – November 1
“4 Seasons of Loneliness” – Boyz II Men
Genre: R&B / Sad Boy Harmony
We were due for a soft, slow cry. Enter Boyz II Men, once again bringing harmonized heartbreak straight into our Walkmans.
🌀 Gen X Spiral: Emotional deja vu. How are we still this sad in a Mariah-and-Mase year?
📅 November 2 – November 29
“Candle in the Wind 1997” – Elton John
Genre: Pop Ballad / Royal Eulogy
Princess Diana’s tragic passing shook the world, and Elton’s reworked tribute brought the grief to the charts. It was the kind of moment that defined not just a year, but an era.
👑 Gen X Collective Grief: Global. Sincere. Tear-stained.
📅 November 30 – December 27
“Something About the Way You Look Tonight / Candle in the Wind 1997” – Elton John
Genre: Double A-Side / Dual Emotion
Elton wasn’t done. This release became the best-selling single of all time worldwide. It was iconic, melancholic, and massive.
🕯️ Gen X Memory: You didn’t just hear it. You felt it. Over and over.
📅 December 28 – December 31
“Truly Madly Deeply” – Savage Garden
Genre: Pop / Softcore Sentimentality
Closing out the year with a gentle whisper of Aussie romanticism. You slow danced to it. You put it on your mixtape. You probably thought it was deep.
💌 Gen X Truth: We were suckers for an over-the-top love song with a foreign accent.
1997 was the year Gen X learned to juggle pain, pop, and Puff Daddy. It gave us Biggie’s goodbye and Hanson’s hello. It showed us how to cry, vibe, and awkwardly zig-a-zig-ah at school dances.
There were massive shifts—musically, emotionally, and culturally. And we were all there, watching it unfold on our 27-inch RCA TVs and rewinding the tape every time “I’ll Be Missing You” came on.