# 1995 in music
**1995 in music** was a year in which British Britpop and electronic dance music reached new commercial and cultural heights, American album sales were led by a debut rock band, and the [Grammy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/grammy-awards) honored both [Sheryl Crow](https://www.edgepedia.org/sheryl-crow) and [Bruce Springsteen](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-springsteen) at the 37th ceremony while albums released during 1995 dominated the 38th.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Record of the Year (37th Grammys) | Sheryl Crow, "All I Wanna Do"; Song of the Year went to Bruce Springsteen for "Streets of Philadelphia"[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/record-of-the-year/1995/) • [2](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/song-of-the-year/1995/) |
| Grammy eligibility window | The 37th telecast honored recordings released October 1, 1993 – September 30, 1994; the 38th honored October 1, 1994 – September 30, 1995[3](https://www.grammy.com/awards/37th-annual-grammy-awards/) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/awards/38th-annual-grammy-awards/) |
| Britpop chart battle | On August 14, 1995, Blur's "Country House" and Oasis's "Roll With It" were released the same day, the episode known as the "Battle of Britpop"[5](https://los40.com/2025/08/14/hace-30-anos-oasis-lanzo-roll-with-it-y-blur-country-house-el-detonante-de-la-batalla-del-britpop/) |
| Best-selling US album of 1995 | Hootie & the Blowfish's *Cracked Rear View*, outpacing the No. 2 title, TLC's *CrazySexyCool*, by more than 2 million units[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1996/BB-1996-01-20.pdf) |
| Best-selling UK album of 1995 | Robson & Jerome's debut, 2,050,000 copies[7](https://bestsellingalbums.org/year-end/UK_Top_Albums_1995) |
| Landmark albums | Radiohead's *The Bends* (March 13, 1995), Oasis's *(What's the Story) Morning Glory?*, Alanis Morissette's *Jagged Little Pill*[8](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/radiohead-the-bends-best-albums-of-1995-ranked-oasis-blur-alanis-morissette-garbage-a9395511.html) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/awards/38th-annual-grammy-awards/) |
| Dance music milestone | Glastonbury introduced a Dance Tent for the first time in its then-25-year history, featuring Massive Attack, Carl Cox, and others[9](https://www.grammy.com/news/1995-dance-music-albums-electronic-edm/) |
## Grammy Awards
The 37th Annual Grammy Awards, the 1995 telecast, covered recordings released between October 1, 1993 and September 30, 1994[3](https://www.grammy.com/awards/37th-annual-grammy-awards/). Sheryl Crow won Record of the Year for "All I Wanna Do", produced by Bill Bottrell, against nominees including [Boyz II Men](https://www.edgepedia.org/boyz-ii-men)'s "I'll Make Love to You" and Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia"[1](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/record-of-the-year/1995/). Song of the Year, a songwriter's award, went to Bruce Springsteen for "Streets of Philadelphia", from the film *Philadelphia*, over nominated songs including "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "I Swear"[2](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/song-of-the-year/1995/). [Ella Fitzgerald](https://www.edgepedia.org/ella-fitzgerald) won Best Historical Album for *The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books on Verve*[10](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-historical-album/1995/).
The following year's telecast, the 38th, honored recordings released between October 1, 1994 and September 30, 1995, and its winners show what the year's releases achieved. [Alanis Morissette](https://www.edgepedia.org/alanis-morissette)'s *Jagged Little Pill* won Album of the Year over [Mariah Carey](https://www.edgepedia.org/mariah-carey)'s *Daydream*, [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson)'s *HIStory Past, Present and Future Book I*, Joan Osborne's *Relish*, and Pearl Jam's *Vitalogy*; Seal's "Kiss from a Rose" won Record of the Year and Song of the Year; and Hootie & the Blowfish won Best New Artist over Shania Twain and Joan Osborne[4](https://www.grammy.com/awards/38th-annual-grammy-awards/).
## Britpop and the Battle of Blur versus Oasis
Britpop, a British guitar-rock movement rooted in 1960s and 1970s British pop traditions, dominated UK headlines in 1995. Blur's *Parklife* had won Best British Album at the [Brit Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/brit-awards) in 1995 and stayed on the UK charts for 90 weeks[11](https://time.com/75615/parklife-blur-britpop-20th-anniversary/). By mid-1995, with new albums due from both bands, an apparent feud between Blur and Oasis divided British fans[11](https://time.com/75615/parklife-blur-britpop-20th-anniversary/).
**The chart battle.** On August 14, 1995, Blur released "Country House" and Oasis released "Roll With It" on the same day, the confrontation remembered as the "Battle of Britpop"[5](https://los40.com/2025/08/14/hace-30-anos-oasis-lanzo-roll-with-it-y-blur-country-house-el-detonante-de-la-batalla-del-britpop/). Contemporary commentary described it as an overhyped run-off between two singles[12](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/28/1995-dance-music-britpop-orbital-leftfield-underworld). Oasis released *(What's the Story) Morning Glory?* that year, and the chart battle became a symbolic high point of the Britpop era[13](https://oldiesradyo.com/en/1990s/1995-music-history/).
Radiohead, never a Britpop band, released their second album *The Bends* on March 13, 1995 to widespread acclaim; its songs include "Fake Plastic Trees", "High and Dry", "Black Star", and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"[8](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/radiohead-the-bends-best-albums-of-1995-ranked-oasis-blur-alanis-morissette-garbage-a9395511.html). Other notable British releases of the year include Pulp's *Different Class*, Elastica's debut, Supergrass's *I Should Coco*, and [The Verve](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-verve)'s second album[14](https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/x-lists/best-albums-1995/).
## Dance and electronic music
1995 is described by the Recording Academy as the year dance music albums came of age[9](https://www.grammy.com/news/1995-dance-music-albums-electronic-edm/). In the United States, Lollapalooza's 1995 lineup featured [Sonic Youth](https://www.edgepedia.org/sonic-youth), Pavement, Beck, Cypress Hill, and Hole, but largely missed electronic music; even Moby, the sole raver on the bill, performed with a guitar[9](https://www.grammy.com/news/1995-dance-music-albums-electronic-edm/).
In Britain the picture differed. For the first time in Glastonbury's then-25-year history, the 1995 festival introduced a Dance Tent, featuring trip-hop collective [Massive Attack](https://www.edgepedia.org/massive-attack) alongside DJs Carl Cox, Spooky, and Darren Emerson; [The Prodigy](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-prodigy), Portishead, Tricky, Goldie, and Orbital appeared elsewhere on the bill[9](https://www.grammy.com/news/1995-dance-music-albums-electronic-edm/). Landmark albums from then-scrappy acts such as [The Chemical Brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-chemical-brothers), Leftfield, Goldie, and Aphex Twin upended assumptions about electronic music[9](https://www.grammy.com/news/1995-dance-music-albums-electronic-edm/). Tricky, the English producer-songwriter from Bristol, broke through in 1995 with *Maxinquaye*, mixing dreamlike ambient music with hip-hop[9](https://www.grammy.com/news/1995-dance-music-albums-electronic-edm/) • [15](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-31-ca-19488-story.html).
## United States: sales, charts, and hip-hop
[Hootie & the Blowfish](https://www.edgepedia.org/hootie-and-the-blowfish)'s *Cracked Rear View* was by far the best-selling album of 1995 in the United States, outpacing the No. 2 title, TLC's *CrazySexyCool*, by more than 2 million units[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1996/BB-1996-01-20.pdf). For the second year in a row, Billboard's year-end No. 1 album was by a debut artist[16](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1995/BB-1995-12-23.pdf). Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day", a 1995 release, later held the record for the longest run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 until "Old Town Road" surpassed it in 2019[17](https://time.com/5652803/lil-nas-x-2/).
In hip-hop, Questlove dates the moment "hip hop, as I knew it, changed forever" to the 1995 Source Awards, with tensions between coasts already building after the first, untelevised ceremony the year before[18](https://time.com/6302777/questlove-hip-hop-legacy-essay/). The East Coast–West Coast rivalry became increasingly prominent through the year[13](https://oldiesradyo.com/en/1990s/1995-music-history/).
## Technology and criticism
In the spring of 1995, with state funding running out, the Germany-based Fraunhofer team traveled to trade shows across Europe and America to promote the mp3 standard, meeting little interest; potential customers called the format "too complicated," and the rival mp2 booth, backed by Philips promotion, was three times the size of theirs[19](https://time.com/3935919/steely-dan-nhl-mp3-music-industry/).
The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1995 compiled ballots from 278 critics, who divided 100 points among 10 albums each; Oasis's *(What's the Story) Morning Glory?* appears among the poll's results[20](https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres95.php). Retrospective lists of the year's albums consistently place *The Bends*, *(What's the Story) Morning Glory?*, *Jagged Little Pill*, and PJ Harvey's *To Bring You My Love* near the top[8](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/radiohead-the-bends-best-albums-of-1995-ranked-oasis-blur-alanis-morissette-garbage-a9395511.html) • [21](https://www.acclaimedmusic.net/year/1995a.htm).
## References
1. [Record of the Year 1995 Winners & Nominees, Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/record-of-the-year/1995/)
2. [Song of the Year 1995 Winners & Nominees, Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/song-of-the-year/1995/)
3. [37th Annual Grammy Awards, Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/awards/37th-annual-grammy-awards/)
4. [38th Annual Grammy Awards, Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/awards/38th-annual-grammy-awards/)
5. [Hace 30 años Oasis lanzó 'Roll With It' y Blur, 'Country House', LOS40](https://los40.com/2025/08/14/hace-30-anos-oasis-lanzo-roll-with-it-y-blur-country-house-el-detonante-de-la-batalla-del-britpop/)
6. [Billboard, January 20, 1996 (year-end sales)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1996/BB-1996-01-20.pdf)
7. [Top UK Albums – Year-end 1995, Best Selling Albums](https://bestsellingalbums.org/year-end/UK_Top_Albums_1995)
8. [The 20 best albums of 1995 ranked, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/radiohead-the-bends-best-albums-of-1995-ranked-oasis-blur-alanis-morissette-garbage-a9395511.html)
9. [How 1995 Became The Year Dance Music Albums Came Of Age, Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/1995-dance-music-albums-electronic-edm/)
10. [Best Historical Album 1995 Winners & Nominees, Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/awards/categories/best-historical-album/1995/)
11. [Parklife Is the Cornerstone of Britpop, But It Shouldn't Be, TIME](https://time.com/75615/parklife-blur-britpop-20th-anniversary/)
12. [It was 20 years ago today: the year British dance music went wild, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/28/1995-dance-music-britpop-orbital-leftfield-underworld)
13. [1995: A Year in Music History, Oldies Radyo](https://oldiesradyo.com/en/1990s/1995-music-history/)
14. [The 25 best Indie Albums of 1995, Radio X](https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/x-lists/best-albums-1995/)
15. [Year in Review 1995: Pop Music, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-31-ca-19488-story.html)
16. [Billboard, December 23, 1995 (The Year in Charts)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1995/BB-1995-12-23.pdf)
17. [Inside the Record-Breaking Rise of Lil Nas X, TIME](https://time.com/5652803/lil-nas-x-2/)
18. [The Day Hip-Hop Changed Forever, TIME](https://time.com/6302777/questlove-hip-hop-legacy-essay/)
19. [How Steely Dan and the National Hockey League Revolutionized Music, TIME](https://time.com/3935919/steely-dan-nhl-mp3-music-industry/)
20. [Pazz & Jop 1995: Critics Poll, Robert Christgau](https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres95.php)
21. [Acclaimed Music: Top Albums of 1995](https://www.acclaimedmusic.net/year/1995a.htm)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music institutions and events*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license