My vote goes to Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.
A lot of people seem to think Madonna but I disagree. Her sales had dropped drastically by the early to mid-1990s. She knew that she had to compete with the likes of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and TLC, four of the biggest female music stars of the 1990s. Why else do you think she released “Bedtime Stories” in 1994? It was a blatant attempt at trying to jump on the hugely popular R&B/pop bandwagon that ruled the charts around the world at the time. Madonna was clever in that she brought on board Dallas Austin (TLC), Dave Hall (Mariah Carey) and Babyface (Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson), three of the biggest producers and writers in the R&B field at the time. In the end the success of “Bedtime Stories” (7m) didn't come close to the sales or impact of the albums released by her then-rivals and contemporaries, either in the US or worldwide - Music Box (30m), Daydream (25m), Janet (20m), CrazySexyCool (23m) and The Bodyguard (45m). Madonna even released “Something to Remember” 1995, another greatest hits compilation (her second in just five years) that focused specifically on her ballads. It was another attempt at trying to soften her and her image after "Erotica" and the controversy surrounding the album.
Mariah Carey's Achievements in the 1990s
• She was the first and only female artist to have four number one singles from a debut album ("Mariah Carey", 1990).
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• She topped the Billboard Hot 100 14 times in the 1990s alone. She matched Madonna’s current total of 12 chart toppers in just 7 years. It took Madonna nearly 20 years to achieve that tally. Madonna had 4 number one singles in the 1990s. Mariah still holds the record for most #1 singles by a female artist in the US with 18 chart toppers, only The Beatles have more. She has spent a record 79 weeks at the number one position on the Hot 100, becoming the artist with the most weeks at number one in US history.
• She had four number one albums on the Billboard 200 during the 1990s. Madonna didn’t have a single number one album in the US during the 1990s.
• Mariah's smash hit “One Sweet Day” spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, the longest running number one song in US chart history. “Fantasy” also spent 8 weeks at #1 there in 1995. Madonna’s longest-running #1 is “Take a Bow” which spent 7 weeks at #1.
• Mariah is the only female artist in history to have three singles debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Fantasy”, “One Sweet Day” and “Honey”. In fact Mariah Carey was the first female artist in history to have a single debut at #1 on the Hot 100.
• She had 19 top 10 entries in the 1990s in the US, the most for any female artist that decade. She has accumulated 27 top-ten hits on the Hot 100 in total, placing her in fifth place overall for the most top tens in the chart's history. Along with Janet Jackson, Mariah is second to Madonna for most top 10 entries on the chart for a female artist. Not bad considering Madonna started about 8 years before Mariah Carey and only has 11 more top 10 hits.
• Her 1994 “Merry Christmas” album has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling Christmas album of all time.
• She was officially named the best-selling female artist of the 1990s both in the US and worldwide.
• Was named the best-selling female artist of the US Nielsen SoundScan era and third best-selling artist overall.
• Is the third best-selling female artist of all time in the US, just 1 million behind Madonna. Barbra Streisand is #1.
• She headed out on several record-breaking tours around the world in support of her albums. Madonna stopped touring after The Girlie Show in 1993.
• "Music Box" sold over 30 million copies worldwide while "Daydream" sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Both albums have been certified diamond in the US.
• "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. No Madonna single has sold that many copies.
It's also interesting to note that Mariah Carey has scored more top 10 hits and number one singles in the US between 2000-2009 than Madonna.
Mariah (2000-2009):
#1 singles = 4
Other top 10 entries = 4
Top 20 entries = 3
Her last #1 was in 2008. "We Belong Together" spent fourteen non-consecutive weeks at #1 in the US, becoming tied for the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's own "One Sweet Day". "We Belong Together" was declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by Billboard.
Madonna (2000-2009):
#1 singles = 1
Other top 10 entries = 4
Top 20 entries = 0
Her last #1 single on the Hot 100 was 13 years ago when "Music" hit #1 in 2000. "The Emancipation of Mimi" was the best-selling album of 2005 in the US (6m), and the second-best seller worldwide. Mariah's also sold more albums in the US between 2000-2009 than Madonna. No Madonna album sold close to 6m copies in the US last decade, in fact the last time Madonna sold that many copies of a studio album in the US was in 1986 with "True Blue".
Celine Dion
• "The Colour of My Love" has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
• "Falling Into You" has sold over 32 million copies worldwide and was certified diamond in the US. That's actually more than "The Immaculate Collection" (30m), Madonna's best-selling album of her career. "Let's Talk About Love" has sold over 31 million copies worldwide and was also certified diamond in the US. No studio album released by Madonna in the 1990s or 1980s has sold as many copies as either of those Celine Dion albums have worldwide. Madonna's highest selling studio album is "True Blue" (25m). The "Evita" soundtrack is down as selling 5 million copies in the US, only because it's a double album and sales (2.5m) are counted twice.
• "All the Way... A Decade of Song" , released in 1999, has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and over 8 million in the US alone.
• "My Heart Will Go On" has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. No Madonna single has sold that many copies. It was the best-selling single of 1998.
• Celine also took home Album of the Year Grammy in 1997 and Record of the Year Grammy in 1999, two awards Madonna has never won (Pop Album isn't Album of the Year)
• She became the only female artist to have two million-selling singles in the UK.
• "D'eux" is the best-selling French-language album of all time, with sales of 10 million copies worldwide.
• She is the second best-selling female artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era in the United States, with over 51.8 million albums sold.
• Several record-breaking world tours in the 1990s.
Both Mariah and Celine were selling albums in quantities Madonna could only dream of doing in the 1990s.
Whitney Houston also gave her a run for her money in the early 1990s.
Whitney Houston
• "The Bodyguard" soundtrack is the best-selling soundtrack of all time with sales of over 45 million. It won Album of the Year at the 1994 Grammy Awards.
• "The Bodyguard" film was the second biggest-grossing film of 1992, grossing $410.9 million worldwide. The gross of "Evita" was $141.0 million worldwide. "Waiting to Exhale", also starring Whitney, grossed more at the US box office than "Evita". "Waiting to Exhale" grossed $67.05 million in the US, "Evita" grossed $50.0 million. "The Preacher's Wife", Whitney's third film, grossed only 2 million less in the US than "Evita".
• "I Will Always Love You" has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single by a female artist of all time. It's also the second best-selling physical single of all time in the US, only behind "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John. It spent 14 weeks at #1, a record breaker until Mariah beat it several years later.
• Until the launch of the RIAA's digital certification program in 2004, Whitney had sold 16.5 million physical singles more than any other female solo artist in history.
• Despite missing the top 10, "My Love Is Your Love" has sold as many copies as Madonna's "Ray of Light" in the US. Whitney's album sold over 13 million copies worldwide.
• Whitney became the only artist with three albums to remain on top of the Billboard 200 chart for over ten weeks - Whitney Houston (14 weeks), Whitney (11 weeks) and The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (20 weeks). She also broke the record for the most cumulative weeks at number one by a female artist - a record she still holds at 46 cumulative weeks.
Whitney Houston was also Madonna's main rival throughout the 1980s:
• Her 1985 debut album spent 14 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, a record for the most weeks at the top spot by a female artist of 1980s.
• Her debut album was certified diamond in the US, making her the very first female artist to earn the ten-time-platinum mark. It also has sold 32 million copies worldwide and became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo artist. It has sold over 13 million copies in the US to date. No studio album by Madonna has sold as many copies either in the US or worldwide.
• She was the first female artist to yield three #1 singles from one album. Her second album yielded four #1 singles. Madonna has never achieved this.
• "Whitney", released in 1987, was the first album by a female artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard chart. The album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide and was certified diamond in the US. She became the first female artist in history to have two albums certified diamond.
•Scored an unprecedented seven consecutive number one singles on the Hot 100. She was the first artist to ever achieve this.
Janet Jackson's and TLC were far bigger than Madonna in the early to mid-1990s. "Janet" sold over 20 million copies worldwide and over 7 million in the US. "Design of a Decade" and "The Velvet Rope" both sold over 10 million copies worldwide. "CrazySexyCool" by TLC has sold over 23 million copies worldwide and was certified diamond in the US, the first album by a girl group to achieve this. It's also the second best-selling album worldwide by a girl group. It won two Grammy awards in 1996. Neither "Erotica" or "Bedtime Stories" reached that level of success either in the US or worldwide.
A bit long-winded
A lot of people seem to think Madonna but I disagree. Her sales had dropped drastically by the early to mid-1990s. She knew that she had to compete with the likes of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and TLC, four of the biggest female music stars of the 1990s. Why else do you think she released “Bedtime Stories” in 1994? It was a blatant attempt at trying to jump on the hugely popular R&B/pop bandwagon that ruled the charts around the world at the time. Madonna was clever in that she brought on board Dallas Austin (TLC), Dave Hall (Mariah Carey) and Babyface (Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson), three of the biggest producers and writers in the R&B field at the time. In the end the success of “Bedtime Stories” (7m) didn't come close to the sales or impact of the albums released by her then-rivals and contemporaries, either in the US or worldwide - Music Box (30m), Daydream (25m), Janet (20m), CrazySexyCool (23m) and The Bodyguard (45m). Madonna even released “Something to Remember” 1995, another greatest hits compilation (her second in just five years) that focused specifically on her ballads. It was another attempt at trying to soften her and her image after "Erotica" and the controversy surrounding the album.
Mariah Carey's Achievements in the 1990s
• She was the first and only female artist to have four number one singles from a debut album ("Mariah Carey", 1990).
.
• She topped the Billboard Hot 100 14 times in the 1990s alone. She matched Madonna’s current total of 12 chart toppers in just 7 years. It took Madonna nearly 20 years to achieve that tally. Madonna had 4 number one singles in the 1990s. Mariah still holds the record for most #1 singles by a female artist in the US with 18 chart toppers, only The Beatles have more. She has spent a record 79 weeks at the number one position on the Hot 100, becoming the artist with the most weeks at number one in US history.
• She had four number one albums on the Billboard 200 during the 1990s. Madonna didn’t have a single number one album in the US during the 1990s.
• Mariah's smash hit “One Sweet Day” spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, the longest running number one song in US chart history. “Fantasy” also spent 8 weeks at #1 there in 1995. Madonna’s longest-running #1 is “Take a Bow” which spent 7 weeks at #1.
• Mariah is the only female artist in history to have three singles debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Fantasy”, “One Sweet Day” and “Honey”. In fact Mariah Carey was the first female artist in history to have a single debut at #1 on the Hot 100.
• She had 19 top 10 entries in the 1990s in the US, the most for any female artist that decade. She has accumulated 27 top-ten hits on the Hot 100 in total, placing her in fifth place overall for the most top tens in the chart's history. Along with Janet Jackson, Mariah is second to Madonna for most top 10 entries on the chart for a female artist. Not bad considering Madonna started about 8 years before Mariah Carey and only has 11 more top 10 hits.
• Her 1994 “Merry Christmas” album has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling Christmas album of all time.
• She was officially named the best-selling female artist of the 1990s both in the US and worldwide.
• Was named the best-selling female artist of the US Nielsen SoundScan era and third best-selling artist overall.
• Is the third best-selling female artist of all time in the US, just 1 million behind Madonna. Barbra Streisand is #1.
• She headed out on several record-breaking tours around the world in support of her albums. Madonna stopped touring after The Girlie Show in 1993.
• "Music Box" sold over 30 million copies worldwide while "Daydream" sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Both albums have been certified diamond in the US.
• "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. No Madonna single has sold that many copies.
It's also interesting to note that Mariah Carey has scored more top 10 hits and number one singles in the US between 2000-2009 than Madonna.
Mariah (2000-2009):
#1 singles = 4
Other top 10 entries = 4
Top 20 entries = 3
Her last #1 was in 2008. "We Belong Together" spent fourteen non-consecutive weeks at #1 in the US, becoming tied for the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's own "One Sweet Day". "We Belong Together" was declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by Billboard.
Madonna (2000-2009):
#1 singles = 1
Other top 10 entries = 4
Top 20 entries = 0
Her last #1 single on the Hot 100 was 13 years ago when "Music" hit #1 in 2000. "The Emancipation of Mimi" was the best-selling album of 2005 in the US (6m), and the second-best seller worldwide. Mariah's also sold more albums in the US between 2000-2009 than Madonna. No Madonna album sold close to 6m copies in the US last decade, in fact the last time Madonna sold that many copies of a studio album in the US was in 1986 with "True Blue".
Celine Dion
• "The Colour of My Love" has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
• "Falling Into You" has sold over 32 million copies worldwide and was certified diamond in the US. That's actually more than "The Immaculate Collection" (30m), Madonna's best-selling album of her career. "Let's Talk About Love" has sold over 31 million copies worldwide and was also certified diamond in the US. No studio album released by Madonna in the 1990s or 1980s has sold as many copies as either of those Celine Dion albums have worldwide. Madonna's highest selling studio album is "True Blue" (25m). The "Evita" soundtrack is down as selling 5 million copies in the US, only because it's a double album and sales (2.5m) are counted twice.
• "All the Way... A Decade of Song" , released in 1999, has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and over 8 million in the US alone.
• "My Heart Will Go On" has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. No Madonna single has sold that many copies. It was the best-selling single of 1998.
• Celine also took home Album of the Year Grammy in 1997 and Record of the Year Grammy in 1999, two awards Madonna has never won (Pop Album isn't Album of the Year)
• She became the only female artist to have two million-selling singles in the UK.
• "D'eux" is the best-selling French-language album of all time, with sales of 10 million copies worldwide.
• She is the second best-selling female artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era in the United States, with over 51.8 million albums sold.
• Several record-breaking world tours in the 1990s.
Both Mariah and Celine were selling albums in quantities Madonna could only dream of doing in the 1990s.
Whitney Houston also gave her a run for her money in the early 1990s.
Whitney Houston
• "The Bodyguard" soundtrack is the best-selling soundtrack of all time with sales of over 45 million. It won Album of the Year at the 1994 Grammy Awards.
• "The Bodyguard" film was the second biggest-grossing film of 1992, grossing $410.9 million worldwide. The gross of "Evita" was $141.0 million worldwide. "Waiting to Exhale", also starring Whitney, grossed more at the US box office than "Evita". "Waiting to Exhale" grossed $67.05 million in the US, "Evita" grossed $50.0 million. "The Preacher's Wife", Whitney's third film, grossed only 2 million less in the US than "Evita".
• "I Will Always Love You" has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single by a female artist of all time. It's also the second best-selling physical single of all time in the US, only behind "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John. It spent 14 weeks at #1, a record breaker until Mariah beat it several years later.
• Until the launch of the RIAA's digital certification program in 2004, Whitney had sold 16.5 million physical singles more than any other female solo artist in history.
• Despite missing the top 10, "My Love Is Your Love" has sold as many copies as Madonna's "Ray of Light" in the US. Whitney's album sold over 13 million copies worldwide.
• Whitney became the only artist with three albums to remain on top of the Billboard 200 chart for over ten weeks - Whitney Houston (14 weeks), Whitney (11 weeks) and The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (20 weeks). She also broke the record for the most cumulative weeks at number one by a female artist - a record she still holds at 46 cumulative weeks.
Whitney Houston was also Madonna's main rival throughout the 1980s:
• Her 1985 debut album spent 14 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, a record for the most weeks at the top spot by a female artist of 1980s.
• Her debut album was certified diamond in the US, making her the very first female artist to earn the ten-time-platinum mark. It also has sold 32 million copies worldwide and became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo artist. It has sold over 13 million copies in the US to date. No studio album by Madonna has sold as many copies either in the US or worldwide.
• She was the first female artist to yield three #1 singles from one album. Her second album yielded four #1 singles. Madonna has never achieved this.
• "Whitney", released in 1987, was the first album by a female artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard chart. The album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide and was certified diamond in the US. She became the first female artist in history to have two albums certified diamond.
•Scored an unprecedented seven consecutive number one singles on the Hot 100. She was the first artist to ever achieve this.
Janet Jackson's and TLC were far bigger than Madonna in the early to mid-1990s. "Janet" sold over 20 million copies worldwide and over 7 million in the US. "Design of a Decade" and "The Velvet Rope" both sold over 10 million copies worldwide. "CrazySexyCool" by TLC has sold over 23 million copies worldwide and was certified diamond in the US, the first album by a girl group to achieve this. It's also the second best-selling album worldwide by a girl group. It won two Grammy awards in 1996. Neither "Erotica" or "Bedtime Stories" reached that level of success either in the US or worldwide.
A bit long-winded




