90s rockers: what they look like then and now | Gallery
By Megan Riedlinger
10:15 a.m. PDT, August 26, 2022
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Rock music really flourished in the 90s. From Blues Traveler and the Black Crowes to female-led bands like No Doubt and the Cranberries, the decade produced legendary rockers. In honor of ’90s icon Shirley Manson’s 56th birthday on August 26, 2022, Wonderwall.com takes a look at some of the biggest rockers of the era past and present, at starting with vocalist Garbage… Shirley Manson started young, joining her first band as a teenager as a keyboardist and backing vocalist. The label saw something special in the Scottish musician and cast her as the vocalist for Angelfish, which got her recognized by Garbage – the Wisconsin-based band that also includes Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ . In 1995 Shirley released her first album with Garbage with hit singles like “Stupid Girl”, “Only Happy When it Rains” and “Vow”.
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Shirley Manson is still the lead singer of Garbage and still sports vibrant red hair. The group has released seven studio albums and earned seven Grammy nominations since their debut in the 90s. They went on temporary hiatus in 2006, which led Shirley to pursue other artistic endeavors, such as acting. She appeared on the FOX series “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” in 2008 but returned to music and started working with Garbage again in 2010. She is seen here playing with the band in Quebec in July 2022. She was married to the band’s sound engineer, Billy Bush, since 2010.
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Chris Robinson and his brother Rich Robinson founded the Black Crowes in 1984, but it wasn’t until 1990 that they released their first album, “Shake Your Money Maker”. Their next album, “The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion”, became an even bigger hit, topping the Billboard 200 chart in 1992.
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He still has those luscious locks! Although his band never replicated the success of their first two albums, Chris Robinson and the Black Crowes continued to make music into the early 2000s. They took a hiatus from 2002 to 2005 during which the leader worked on solo projects, but eventually the band reunited and found success again with their 2008 album “Warpaint”. Chris and his brother Rich Robinson formed the Chris Robinson Brotherhood in 2011 during another hiatus from Black Crowes. They had a few more difficult times before reuniting in 2019. Chris is seen here performing with the band in Chicago in July 2022. With three failed marriages under his belt – the most notable being his early union with actress Kate Hudson, who produced son Ryder Robinson – Chris married for the fourth time in 2020, marrying Camille Johnson. He also shares a daughter with third wife Allison Bridges.
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Hole singer Courtney Love was one of the formidable ladies of ’90s rock. Through This” in 1994 and “Celebrity Skin” in 1998. The band broke up in 2002. Courtney was famously married to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain from 1992 – the same year they welcomed daughter Frances Bean Cobain – until his death in 1994.
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These days, Courtney Love still looks young (although some can be credited with going under the knife) and still making music. After going solo for a while, she reformed Hole in 2010 and released a new album, “Nobody’s Daughter.” In 2013, she started performing again as a solo artist. Acting has also been a big part of her life – although she started in the 80s and had memorable roles in a few films including ‘Sid and Nancy’, ‘The People vs. Larry Flynt’ and ‘Man on the Moon”, she more recently landed roles in “Sons of Anarchy” in 2014 and “Empire” in 2015. She also wrote a memoir, “Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love”, in 2006.
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John Popper fronted the band Blues Traveler, who released their self-titled debut album in 1990. But it wasn’t until their fourth studio album, “Four,” in 1994 that they achieved mainstream success thanks to the “Run-Around” single. .” The track earned the band their first Grammy.
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John Popper and the men of Blues Traveler still make music today (and John still loves hats!). They released their 14th album, “Traveler’s Blues,” in 2021 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album. Singer John welcomed his first child, daughter Eloise, in 2015 with wife Jordan Auleb; they separated in 2018.
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Mark McGrath was the hunky frontman of Sugar Ray, a Southern California rock band that originally formed in 1986. It took the band more than a decade to achieve smash hit – their track 1997’s “Fly” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks. The band released their best-selling album, ’14:59′, in 1999. It produced three huge hits: ‘Every Morning’, ‘Someday’ and ‘When It’s Over’.
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It’s nice to see that some things never change…like Mark McGrath’s famous “spiky ‘do”. The singer and the Sugar Ray guys continued making music well into the 90s. In fact, they released their seventh studio album, “Lil Yachty”, in 2019. Mark dabbled in animation, running the entertainment news show “Extra” from 2004 to 2008 and hosting the game show “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” in 2010 as well as the second season of “Killer Karaoke” in 2013. He also dabbled in reality television, appearing in season 1 of “Celebrity Big Brother” in 2018 (he came in third) and competing on “The Masked Singer” in 2021 These days, he also works as a DJ, hosting a SiriusXM 90s show on 9 channels. The musician has been married to Carin Kingsland, with whom he has twins, since 2012.
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Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan became a huge rock star in the 90s when the band’s album “Siamese Dream” made them a mainstream music group. They became one of the biggest bands of the decade before breaking up in 2000.
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Billy Corgan is still making music…but he’s got a lot less hair these days! He started a new band, Zwan, after the members of the Smashing Pumpkins broke up in 2000, but that band eventually disbanded as well. Since then, he’s dabbled in solo music and reviving his old band, releasing the Smashing Pumpkins’ 10th studio album, “Monuments to an Elegy”, in 2014, which led to a reunion tour in 2018. More recently he has been working solo again; he was seen here in July 2022. Billy has also dabbled in the professional wrestling world: he is the owner and promoter of the National Wrestling Alliance. He shares two young children with partner Chloe Mendel.
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Gwen Stefani has been the lead singer of No Doubt since 1986. The ska-punk-pop group released their debut album in 1992. Their self-titled debut album was not a success but their second album, “Tragic Kingdom”, catapulted them towards glory. in 1995 with major hits like “Just a Girl” and “Don’t Speak”. The group has racked up 10 Grammy nominations and two wins over the years.
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Gwen Stefani never gets old! The beauty became a household name not only because of her work with No Doubt, but also the solo career she embarked on during the band’s hiatus, which began in 2004. She delivered several smash hits with his first solo album, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.” and has since released three more solo studio albums. She reunited with No Doubt for their latest album, 2012’s “Push and Shove,” and a few performances in 2015. The singer dated bandmate Tony Kanal for years before meeting Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, whom she married in 2002. The rock couple, who have three sons together, split in 2015 amid a cheating nanny scandal. That same year, Gwen began dating fellow ‘The Voice’ judge Blake Shelton, whom she married in 2021. She and the country music star have collaborated musically on several occasions throughout their relationship. .
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English rock band Bush, fronted by singer-guitarist Gavin Rossdale, shot to fame with their 1994 debut album, ‘Sixteen Stone’. It produced hits like “Comedown”, “Machinehead” and “Glycerine” which helped Bush become one of the biggest rock bands of the decade.
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Gavin Rossdale and the Bush guys went on hiatus in 2002 but reunited in 2010 and continued releasing new music. While on hiatus, Gavin released a solo album, “WANDERlust”, which yielded a moderate hit, “Love Remains The Same”, and formed another band, Institute, which released one album before disbanding in 2006. He also ventured into acting. , appearing in films like “Zoolander” in 2001, “Little Black Book” in 2004 and “Constantine” in 2005 and television shows like “Criminal Minds” in 2009. He was married to one of the other rockers of the years 90 on this list, Gwen Stefani, from 2002 to 2015; they share three sons. He is also the father of British designer Pearl Lowe’s daughter, model Daisy Lowe, who was discovered after a paternity test in 2004.
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Polly Jean Harvey started out as a member of the band Automatic Dlamini in the late 80s, but made a name for herself in the 90s when she started going through PJ Harvey and started a band of the same name. The English multi-instrumentalist released four influential and critically acclaimed albums during this decade: ‘Dry’ in 1992, ‘Rid of Me’ in 1993, ‘To Bring You My Love’ in 1995 and ‘Is This Desire? ” in 1998.
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PJ Harvey has continued to make incredible music: she is the only artist to have received the prestigious Mercury Prize twice (for “Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea” in 2001 and “Let England Shake” in 2011). His most recent album, “The Hope Six Demolition Project”, was released in 2016; it earned her her seventh Grammy nomination. PJ, seen here in 2017, has also continued to tour and work as a composer, writing music for Broadway’s ‘Hedda Gabler’ and the long-running production of ‘Hamlet’ at London’s Young Vic. She also received new attention when her music was used extensively in the hit drama series “Peaky Blinders.”
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Hootie and the Blowfish dominated the 90s with their unique rock sound. Their 1994 alum ‘Cracked Rear View’ spawned four massive hits – ‘Hold My Hand’, ‘Let Her Cry’, ‘Only Wanna Be with You’ and ‘Time’ – and was later ranked the 19th album on best-selling of all time in the United States Singer Darius Rucker and the guys won two Grammys before going on hiatus in 2008.
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1990s superstar Darius Rucker and bandmates Hootie and the Blowfish reunited in 2019 for a full reunion tour and released a new album, “Imperfect Circle,” the same year. But before Darius and the band reunited, the frontman released a solo R&B album before finding huge success as a solo singer in the country music world, becoming in 2008 the first black artist to reach #1 on the country charts and in 2009 becoming the first black artist to win the CMA Best New Artist award. He continues to find success in Nashville – seen here performing at the CMA Music Festival in June 2022. In 2020, he and his wife Beth Leonard announced their divorce after 20 years of marriage. They share two children; he also has a daughter from a previous relationship.