As a follow up to the 60s/70s post, these are the top 10 artists who made their debut in the 1990s according to the Last.FM top artist charts.

I think this is interesting as it gives an idea of which bands from the ’90s have continued to remain relevant to music listeners and which ones have faded (those absent from this list.)

To be included on this list a band had to have released a debut album by 1997, by doing this I’m trying to exclude bands like Muse who while they technically debuted in the 90s didn’t become well known until the 2000s. Similarly the cut off for being considered ’90s rather than ’80s is that their debut album was released 1988 or later. The best example of why this is important is Nirvana who released their debut album (Bleach) in 1989 but I don’t think anyone in their right mind would consider Nirvana an ’80s band.

#1 Radiohead
#2 Nirvana
#3 Oasis
#4 Foo Fighters
#5 Green Day
#6 Placebo
#7 Daft Punk
#8 The Prodigy
#9 Nine Inch Nails
#10 Beck
#11 The Offspring
#12 Incubus
#13 Weezer
#14 Pearl Jam
#15 Rage Against the Machine
#16 Modest Mouse
#17 Moby
#18 Rammstein
#19 Marilyn Manson
#20 Massive Attack

Questionable Inclusions:

Incubus: They didn’t really become well known until 2000 but they did actually release three albums in the 1990s beginning with 1995′s Fungus Amongus.

Modest Mouse: They’re another band that didn’t really become well known until the 2000s but they were around during the ’90s and their debut album came out in 1996.

Notable Omissions:

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: They are a questionable one as they didn’t become really well known until the 1990s but they had released four albums in the 1980s beginning with 1984′s self titled debut. If I had included them they would have been #2 above Nirvana.

U2: They were big in the ’90s but they were also big in the ’80s. I was trying to focus this list on bands that debuted in the ’90s. They would have been below Nirvana and above Oasis if included.

Britney Spears: Her debut came out in 1999 so it missed the cut off by one year. Disturbingly enough she would have been #9.

Eminem: He did release an album 1996 but no one outside of Detroit knew about it really. His big debut came out in 1999 so I figure he just missed the cut. He would have been in at #20 if I had included him.

Nope, They Didn’t Make The Cut:

Korn, Blur, Blink 182, Limp Bizkit, The Cranberries, The Verve, Garbage, Cake, Counting Crows, and Dave Matthews Band didn’t make the cut.

Sorry Billy Corgan:

The Smashing Pumpkins probably would have made the cut except that they are being tagged as both The Smashing Pumpkins and plain Smashing Pumpkins which messes up their charting.