The Lilith Fair festival tour galvanizes women in music the year The Spice Girls, Hanson and Backstreet Boys usher in the late ’90s Pop boom. Meanwhile, the sudden deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. and Lady Diana inspire multiplatinum tribute singles, Punk notches its very first #1 and Rock newcomers score four of the year’s top hits.

#1 Song of the Year   The top song according to our Chartcrush ranking of all Billboard Radio Songs entries that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year

Artists of the Year   The top three artists based on all charted songs (on the Billboard Radio Songs chart) during the calendar year

1. Jewel
2. The Wallflowers
3. Spice Girls

Artist with Most Charting Songs   Artist(s) with the most charting songs on the Billboard Radio Songs chart during the year (song count in parentheses)

• 3-WAY TIE: Spice Girls/Hanson/Smashing Pumpkins (3)

Average #1 Artist Age   The average of how old artists who scored #1 Billboard Radio Songs hits during the year were when their songs first reached #1

• 27.2 years

#1 Songs   List of Billboard Radio Songs #1's that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year, and (in parentheses), the month the song first hit #1 and the total number of weeks it was #1

1. No Doubt – Don’t Speak (December ’96, 16 wks)
2. Toni Braxton – Un-Break My Heart (January, 2 wks)
3. Jewel – You Were Meant for Me (April, 9 wks)
4. Hanson – MMMBop (June, 4 wks)
5. Shawn Colvin – Sunny Came Home (July, 4 wks)
6. Will Smith – Men in Black (August, 4 wks)
7. Third Eye Blind – Semi-Charmed Life (September, 3 wks)
8. Jewel – Foolish Games (September, 3 wks)
9. Sugar Ray – Fly (October, 6 wks)
10. Chumbawamba – Tubthumping (November, 9 wks)