The most memorable songs from '90s movies (2024)

Buena Vista

We’re not sure anybody really saw “Dangerous Minds.” All we know is that it’s the movie where Michelle Pfeiffer turns around her chair to sit in it backward. Why do we feel that way? Because we say the music video for Coolio’s iconic “Gangsta’s Paradise.” It’s so catchy it wasn’t fully overtaken by “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Amish Paradise.”

Warner Bros.

The “Batman Forever” soundtrack has a few standout songs written for the film. Of course, none of them hold a candle to “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal. This is Seal’s most-famous song, and we’ve all had it in our heads since 1995.

Touchstone

There are a few Aerosmith songs on the “Armageddon” soundtrack. Call it nepotism if you will, given that Liv Tyler is in the cast. Still, after years of being largely forgotten, Aerosmith were suddenly huge stars again thanks to the cheesy ballad “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”

TriStar

It’s one thing that Bruce Springsteen’s song from “Philadelphia” won Best Original Song at the Oscars. However, it also won Best Rock Song and Song of the Year at the Grammys. No wonder they call him the Boss. This isn’t even one of his best-known songs, and it still took home a ton of hardware.

Warner Bros.

Dolly Parton originally wrote and recorded “I Will Always Love You” in 1973. It’s a perfectly fine song as she performed it. Dolly may have her own theme park, but Whitney Houston owns this song. When she sung it for the soundtrack of “The Bodyguard,” which she costarred in, it became a massive cultural moment. And yet, it’s probably only the second-biggest song from a movie in the ‘90s. We’ll get to the top one later.

20th Century Fox

As the insane, twisted tale of “Fight Club” comes to a close, you hear the eerie strains of Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” pick up. As Black Francis yowls, you’re still digesting what you’ve just seen. The song fits in pretty well with the movie’s twist as well (no spoilers).

Miramax

Stealers Wheel released “Stuck in the Middle” in 1973. The band was pretty much a one-hit wonder. Why is this song on a ‘90s movie song list? Because the second you saw “Stuck in the Middle” you began picturing Mr. Blonde strutting in “Reservoir Dogs.” Due to certain events in that scene, the two are forever entwined in our minds.

Miramax

We’ve got one more Quentin Tarantino needle drop for you. This time, it’s another cover version. For “Pulp Fiction,” the band Urge Overkill performed a cover of Neil Diamond’s 1972 song “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon.” Their version has more menace and otherworldliness to it, which was fitting for the film.

Paramount

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen was released in 1975. It hit number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992. Why? Because of its appearance in “Wayne’s World.” They even made a new music video for the epic song featuring scenes from “Wayne’s World” of Wayne, Garth, and crew rocking out for the entire length of the tune. Even with a Freddie Mercury biopic called “Bohemian Rhapsody” having been released, this song is still tied to “Wayne’s World.”

20th Century Fox

In the film “That Thing You Do!” the band the Wonders have one hit. They had to create a song for the movie that could be heard a bunch without getting annoying and also seem like a plausible massive hit. The first time you actually hear “That Thing You Do” you realize the later Adam Schlesinger had nailed it.

Universal

“Reality Bites” is an extremely ‘90s movie, so it’s fitting the soundtrack featured a hit from the very ‘90s it girl Lisa Loeb. Her song “Stay” is a quintessential ‘90s love song, and it’s only partially because we all remember Loeb and her glasses singing to us in the music video.

Miramax

Elliott Smith was an incredibly talent and adored musician, but he didn’t have many flirtations with mainstream success. The one time he really crossed over was when he got an Oscar nomination for his song “Miss Misery” from “Good Will Hunting.” You may recall Smith standing alone in his suit singing his song on the massive Oscars stage. He didn’t end up winning, we’ll get to that song later, but it was a strange moment for longtime Smith fans.

Paramount

This was a toe-to-toe battle for what song we wanted to include from “Clueless.” Would it be “Kids in America” by The Muffs, or Jill Sobule’s “Supermodel.” In the end, we went with the song actually from the ‘90s. Either song reminds us of Cher and company, though.

Warner Bros.

Look, “Wild Wild West” is a bad movie. It kind of put a crimp into Will Smith’s career for a second there. That being said, we have no such qualms about the song with the same name as the movie released by Smith. It may be the best of his soundtrack raps.

Warner Bros.

You know what kind of cache Cameron Crowe had in the ‘90s? He got Pearl Jam – at the height of their fame – to write two new songs for his movie “Singles.” Of those, the more memorable one is “Breath.” You didn’t forget new Pearl Jam tunes in the early ‘90s.

Warner Bros.

“Empire Records” is set in a record store, so of course there’s a lot of memorable music from the movie. Also, an appearance from Gwar. That being said, the indelible song from the soundtrack is “Til I Hear it From You,” from the very ‘90s band Gin Blossoms.

Miramax

When you think ‘90s teen movies, “She’s All That” is one of the first that comes to mind. And when you think of that movie, you think of a made-over Laney Boggs coming down the stairs. Ergo, you immediately think of the Sixpence None the Richer song “Kiss Me,” which soundtracked that moment. Then Laney trips and the song cuts out, but we still had that experience.

Warner Bros.

In truth, the true iconic song of the “Space Jam” soundtrack is “I Believe I Can Fly.” For obvious reasons, we aren’t showcasing that one. Instead, we’re going with the Quad City DJs song that shares the film’s title. It’s a jam itself, and so far remains unproblematic (as far as we know).

20th Century Fox

Call it ironic juxtaposition if you will, but we certainly remember the colorful lyrics of Geto Boys’ “Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta” blasting through the drab world of “Office Space.” Many people watching the Mike Judge comedy had probably never heard the expletive-laden rap song before, but they definitely remembered the tune after the movie. Maybe they even played it in their heads while fantasizing about walking away from their jobs as well.

Paramount, 20th Century Fox

We end with the obvious one. Celine Dion. “Titanic.” “My Heart Will Go On.” It won the Oscar that Elliott Smith didn’t. It’s maybe the biggest hit, full stop, of the ‘90s. Even if you didn’t see the movie, you heard “My Heart Will Go On” constantly. It’s a massive ballad that took the nation by storm. Also probably Dion’s own native land of Canada as well.