Whatever Happened to the 90s Divas?

A look at the declining days of the Divas, and the last of their breed.

 

Go to YouTube. Search Whitney Houston vs Mariah Carey, or Mariah Carey vs Celine Dion, and you’ll be sure to find a hundred or more videos showcasing the various talents of these stalwarts, and even more interestingly, the battle that rages in the comments section by the “stans” who want to put their heroine on a higher pedestal than her ‘rival’. A similar story is true in the case of Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé and Britney Spears, but here the parameters might differ a little as they’re not just singers, but performers of a different breed entirely. The mark of any true homosexual male has always been his u dying love for a Diva, and his constant battles with fellow homosexuals over the superiority of said Diva over her rival, and his allegiance to his compatriots of stanning these Divas. Particularly in the age of the internet, the constant battles between the Gaga gays and the Beyoncé gays, or the Mariah gays and the Celine gays, is at times entertaining, often times ridiculous and hysterical, and sometimes downright unpleasant. At the centre of it all, of even the gayness of these individuals, is the Diva. The Diva defines a huge part of who they are as a person, their aspirations and desires in life and what they envision as the epitome to which they strive towards, or the influence that drives their daily lives in ways a footballer or a film star might influence a heterosexual male. This Diva instantly helps them identify with something bigger than themselves, and helps them find a place in a bigger sisterhood with the other die-hard stans that root for these Divas. For an Indian perspective, we once had the Madhuri Dixit camp vs the Sridevi camp, now we might have a Katrina Kaif vs Deepika Padukone. This Diva vs Diva battle-royale is a constant narrative not just in the lives of the fans, but also in the careers of the Divas themselves; just look at all the interviews where one is pitted against the other and all the reports and reviews where one is used to club the other. If once Madonna was called the evil cousin to Cindy Lauper, now we have a “younger Mariah Carey” in the pixie-like Ariana Grande. In fact, rivalries like this where the heart of particularly the music industry, where it could be used to bolster competition and thus commercial and critical success of artists. Aretha Franklin famously has had a rivalry with Patti Labelle (well, really, anyone who could sing better than her) and has used that to constantly outshine anyone she’s sharing a stage with (the last time she did this, she sang over Carole King and Mariah Carey, and had to go toe-to-toe with a very nimble Celine Dion in 1998). The best example would be the famous, enduring (at least in the minds of consumers and the public) musical rivalry between the Big Three, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion from the 90s, and the pop princesses of the 2000s, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Beyoncé. Now that most of these artists are releasing new music this year, I thought it prudent to take a look back at their stats and see their present statuses to make a comment on whatever happened to the Divas, because the Divas are now a dying breed. We haven’t had a certified Diva since Beyoncé sashayed out to the horns in ‘Crazy in Love’ back in 2003, and no amount of delusion can convince me that a two album miracle could bolster Lady Gaga to that status just yet, when less than 10 years into her career she has become a legacy artist.

What makes a Diva? Different people have different answers to that question, depending n who they stan for. In general, a Diva ought to be supremely talented, powerful as a performer, innovative with their craft and should be able to hold her own against their competitors in ways the rabble cannot hope to. I would also throw-in unquestionable vocal talent, which all of these except Britney have in spades. Solid album sales, consistently legendary performances, pop-culture clout and relevance along with an ability to influence the people are also absolutely necessary elements in the recipe for a true diva. And the final marker is longevity and legacy. This is where most of the ladies post 2000s fail miserably. Lady Gaga has all the hallmarks of a true Diva, except for the fact that post her third album (her 4^th year on the charts) she has really spiralled down, and as evidenced by her Super Bowl performance, has to rely on her early hits to draw a crowd. That’s disturbing, particularly for such a talented and unique vice who could have been the biggest name in music for years (if you’d told me in 2011 Gaga wouldn’t have a hit since ‘Born This Way’, I’d have laughed in your face). Katy Perry came in as a second fiddle to Gaga, churned out hits like she had diarrhoea and then got constipated and has now become a troubled and troubling case study in the absurd. Ariana Grande has the voice and clout to last, but after just three albums, her voice has already been crippled, and she has never been particularly consistent to begin with. She’s definitely no Aguilera even. Demi Lovato seems destined to be like Jessie J, great in bursts and fits but never the consummate superstar h commands the rom 9the same problem Pink has had). Miley had high chances of following up the Disney magic, but hasn’t truly ascended to the upper echelons. The only three who truly have the opportunity are Taylor Swift, Adele and Rihanna, and each have major drawbacks that hold them back. Swift is a problematic poser, who uses her white-privilege and victim narrative (and her constant stream of boyfriends) to keep selling records, but fact remains she’s an average singer at best, a middling performer and bland enough to be palatable to Trump’s America, even with her pedestrian take on feminism. Adele is a capable singer and songwriter, but she’s overrated as a vocalist particularly when she has trouble singing her own surprisingly easy songs, let alone songs by other Divas, and she’s too much a recluse. But she has two stellar industry saving albums, and the erstwhile Celine Dion market in a stranglehold, so wait a few more years, I’d say. Rihanna has been releasing hit after hit, turning look after look and generally being a BAMF for over 10 years now, and has seen dramatic improvement in her singing. But facts are facts; she’s a drowsy performer with middling talents, and is basically an Instagram profile with a heavily curated soundtrack by other people. It’s only her last album, ANTI, which has truly been great as an album, and she needs more time, more class and the ability to transport an audience consistently with her performances to be classified as a Diva regardless of her Twitter snark).

Now onto the real Divas. The 90s were good to the gays and the girls. It gave the world three of the greatest and most influential Western pop voices, and then two of the greatest modern female performers in a long and fruitful decade. Based off of just record sales, the Mariah/Celine/Whitney trio were a juggernaut unprecedented in the music industry, and take their superhuman voices into consideration, and we have never seen as bombastic an era before or since. Even though publicly it was all smiles, with no hint of cattiness or rivalry between the three, it was evident in their live performances and studio records as each tried to outdo not only themselves, but also each other, which resulted in some of the bestselling records of all time, and some of the most vocally challenging songs ever recorded (especially with such frequency). Between the three, there are 5 albums that have sold over 30 million copies worldwide, three legendary movie theme songs, two Album of the Year Grammy awards, 33 No.1 singles in the US, two Olympic anthems and at least 600 million records sold. That’s quite the impressive roster of achievements. These ladies could stand on stage and command an audience with their voices, and they did. Two of these were particularly adept at being the best voice on stage, regardless whosoever else might be there sharing it with them, and one of them had the biggest vocal range for any mainstream pop vocalist. In the nineties, in particular, there was simply no competing with them, and though their stars have waned in chart performance since the mid-2000s, there legacy lives on, and at least one of them has endured much further than anyone expected them to.

Whitney Houston came first, in 1985, and right off the bat was hailed for her powerful voice and firecracker stage presence. She became the first black female artist to receive consistent TV attention thanks to MTV, opening up the world for the ladies of colour that followed. That stellar track record continued with her two follow-up solo albums, garnering 7 consecutive number ones, and becoming a sales behemoth. She reached critical and commercial peak with The Bodyguard soundtrack, which accumulated career-best reviews and sales, and every possible award it could. I Will Always Love You, a cover of Dolly Parton, endures still as one of the greatest love songs and movie soundtrack songs of all time, synonymous with Whitney’s strong voice. Her live performances were hailed for their deep roots in gospel and soul, showcasing her intricate melismas and devastatingly powerful belting voice (which I would liken to carved wood, strong yet supple, and yet prone to deterioration). She had escalated to icon status. But the year also marked the beginning of the end, as by 1994, it was clear that her voice was going. Drugs and an extremely undesirable lifestyle started to deteriorate her voice, which by the turn of the millennium, had become a shadow of its former self.

Celine Dion started her career in 1981, at the age of 12, in her native Canadian province of Quebec as a young French vocalist, and became a fixture on the local musical scene. She had a successful career in Canada and the French-speaking world for the next decade. After winning the 1988 Eurovision song contest, and going through a stylistic and personal transformation, Celine emerged t the English market with Unison in 1990. She established herself as a viable solo artist with the record, but it took the success of Beauty & the Beast a year later to cement her place in pop musicdom and escalate her profile to star status internationally. That record would earn her a place in the echelons of film music classics, and then she followed that up with 4 of the biggest English language albums of all time, and the two biggest French language albums ever. She became a household name with Beauty and the Beast, elevated herself to superstar status with The Power of Love, and rose to Divadom with the back to back successes of Falling Into You (which won her AOTY), Let’s Talk About Love, D’eux and S’il suffisait d’aimer, These Are Special Times and All The Way… A Decade of Song. And during this time, she helmed her biggest hit, the massive My Heart Will Go On, probably the most famous song in the world by a female artist (trust me when I say, even in rural Kerala, people know that song even if they have absolutely no clue about any other western musical artist or record, for instance). In the 10 years of the 90s, since her Anglophone debut, Celine managed to sell at least 136 million albums, which outstrips the 124 million by Whitney and 126 million by Mariah in that same period (figures as certified and excluding the Titanic soundtrack).

Mariah Carey stormed onto the scene in 1990 with her self-titled album, which revolutionised the way traditional pop music could be manipulated to include more riffs and runs packed into a song. She continued her chart onslaught with back to back number one songs, and her albums sold incredibly well, and Mariah achieved international Diva status with her majestic voice that spanned 5 octaves, including a whistle register that she could control far better than most could their regular singing voices. Though never much of a touring artist, Mariah’s solo vocal performances quickly earned her a place amongst the best vocalists in Western pop music, and her diverse musical tastes made it sure that she reached as wide an audience as possible. By the time the 90s came to an end, she, Whitney and Celine where the undisputed queens on the lot.

The 2000s gave rise to a new brand of pop musician, one that not only had to sound god, but also be able to put on a visual performance for the young audiences glued to their TV screen. This age of pop music centred on teen-pop acts, specifically catered towards the teenage demographic hat watched videos on MTV and was just starting to expand into the world of the internet. Younger artists started getting more and more attention, while the Divas of the 90s started losing more and more ground to the fairly cheesy sounds of these interlopers. And in this world emerged two Divas, destined perennially to be rivals by the fact that both were of an age, and represented the same school of music in the beginning.

Britney Spears emerged as the poster girl and the master of the late 90s-early 2000s teen-pop atmosphere, with her massive debut in 1999, which instantly established her as the most successful teen artist in history. She followed her classic hit “…Baby One More Time” with “Oops I Did It Again”, which further cemented her status as the reigning pop act of the day. She helped in making the MTV Video Music Awards a must-watch event again with her highly choreographed event performances, although she always lipsynced which never stopped Madonna anyway). Career setbacks and personal problems aside, Britney’s musical career went strong throughout the 2000s, with most naming her the reigning Princess of Pop while Madonna still occupied the place as Queen of Pop. By the end of the 2000s, Britney had made a successful comeback with Circus, and was once again a relevant pop figure.

Christina Aguilera began her career in the shadow of Britney in 1999 as well, though she had already recorded a song for Disney’s Mulan soundtrack. A far better singer than her rival, she continued with her teen-pop image till her fourth studio album, which saw a raunchier look and feel t her music. Though commercially she has never surpassed her two rivals, her voice has always garnered her much acclaim, and is considered one of the pre-eminent voices in pop music (questionable). Her diva status is held together by her volatile vice, which can be devastatingly strong and beautiful in moderation, screechy and chainsaw-esque when used incorrectly. Christina Aguilera stans are some of the most delusional and vocal of all the stans n the internet, though their Diva has very little actual to contribute to the discussions anymore. The late 2000s were not great for Aguilera, her last successful album being 2006’s Back To Basics.

Beyoncé made her solo debut in 2003, after years cultivating her voice and performance skills as the star of Destiny’s Child, one of the leading girl-groups of all time. Her debut album Dangerously In Love produced 2 consecutive number 1 singles, and by the mid-2000s, Beyoncé had established herself as the leading lady of R&B/pop, earning particular praise for her outstanding performance skills while most ignored her superb vocal skills. By the end of the 2000s, Beyoncé was already being hailed as one of the greatest performers of her generation, while her career was already enviable in stature and success, particularly for a woman of colour. She had already penned three of the most noteworthy songs of the decade in Crazy In Love, Irreplaceable and Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).

So, whatever happened to these Divas of yore? How did their careers change in the period past the initial 10 years of success, which is a great marker of success and longevity? Well, I have the rundown for you.

A mentioned earlier, Whitney’s voice had already started its rapid decline in the mid-90s, and by the mid 2000s, she herself was a spectre, emaciated and haggard at the best of times. Her vice during this time failed her in most of her live performances, even with lowered keys for her songs, and she battled addiction and (allegedly) domestic abuse and a hidden bisexuality. She released 4 studio albums in this era, including one Christmas album, which didn’t make much impact, unlike the Christmas albums by her erstwhile rivals (both of whose albums have endured as Christmas classics, selling over 10 million copies worldwide) and the studio albums didn’t perform nearly as well as her 90s fare. Her last album, I Look To You, was a success, but by then her voice was all but gone. Although she embarked on a misguided world tour in support of this effort, fans were left shocked and angered by the state of her voice, which had been ripped to shreds by her lifestyle. And alas, the world bid adieu to a truly magical, but wasted, talent on February 11^th 2012, when Whitney drowned in her bathtub after taking multiple drugs, including cocaine. Although the world remembered her contributions to music and artistry, it is shameful that such a gifted artist was brought down by addiction and people try to whitewash that part nowadays. There needs t be a conversation that stems from this which should force the industry to look upon itself, and the celebrity culture, which drives people to hard drugs and such a volatile and dangerous lifestyle which ultimately diminishes the greatness of a once in a generation talent.

Mariah Carey’s career went off the rails in the early 2000s due to some poor choices and personal hardships rising due to mental health issues, and Glitter was a particularly galling bit of blot on her career, but she bounced back with The Emancipation of Mimi. By mid 2000s, Mariah had established herself once again as a viable pop act, having gathered unto her 18 number one singles, the most for any solo act ever. But inevitably, her albums started a downward slide again, with her voice transforming from gravity-defying to gravelly and exhausted, incapable of mustering the same force or ease in the higher belts as she used to. In fact, her voice had started a steady decline since 197, but it became recognizably damaged in the late 2000s. Her record sales plummeted, with her last successful album being Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel in 2009, selling about 2 million copies. Her unfortunate stint on American Idol aside, the focal points of Mariah’s recent career include multiple instances of failed live performances (including a disastrous NYE performance), failed singles, failed marriages, an abysmal reality show and a Las Vegas residency that saw less that 50% sold-out performances.  Mariah is still a pop music fixture, the goodwill from her 90s dominance carrying through, but hasn’t had a substantial hit in over a decade and isn’t doing particularly well as a live touring act thanks to her stiff stage-presence and failing voice.

Celine Dion, almost always considered the third among the 90s Divas by most Americans, has managed to establish a remarkably lasting career despite having been constantly ridiculed for her “cheesy” songs and personality during the nineties and 2000s. After taking a hiatus from recording t start a family and care for her ailing husband, Celine return to show business in 2001 with A New Day Has Come. While her records haven’t sold nearly as well as her 90s heyday, Celine has released nine commercially successful albums in that period, with all three of her last albums (2012, 2013 and 2016) having sold over 1.5 million copies, which is surprising in these times. In 2003, Celine revolutionised and revitalised Las Vegas when she launched her residency show A New Day… at the Colosseum (custom built for her) in Caesar’s palace, which ran for 5 years and became the most successful residency show of all time earing well over 400 million. The success of her show enabled Las Vegas residencies to be established as a tool for musicians at peak careers to have an established show in a place and helped in the recovery of Las Vegas post economic crisis, luring Elton John, Cher, Shania Twain, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, The Backstreet Boys etc. to start successful residencies in Vegas. Celine embarked on the second lost successful concert tour by a female artist ever, The Taking Chances World Tour in 2008-2010, and returned to Vegas with the brand new show Celine after having twin boys. The new residency has been critically and commercially successful, having been extended till 2019, even as she lost her husband and brother to cancer in 2016. Since then, Celine has wowed audiences with multiple award show performances (most notably the Paris tribute at the 2015 AMAs, and the BBMAs in 2016 with her Icon Award performance and in 2017 for the 20th Anniversary of Titanic), as well as sparking a renaissance of sorts with audiences appreciating her brand of honest goofiness and stalwart elder-stateswomanness in the pop pantheon, and a newfound status as a fashion icon. She also provided her voice, which although not as polished as in the 90s, still capable of being magical, for the soundtracks for the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, as well Deadpool 2, both of which were well-received. Celine will embark on a tour of Australasia later in 2018, the shows already soldout, and will return to Vegas for the final run f her current show in 2019 while a new Anglophone album is in the works.

I would say in the battle of the 90s Divas, Celine Dion clearly stands head and shoulders above her contemporaries, especially seeing as she’s still alive and well, capable of singing her own songs while selling out arenas and releasing new music and evading any controversy or scandal and remaining truly classy and at once down-to-earth.

Britney Spears has had an up and down time in the late 200s and 2010s, with alternating albums turning out good, but she’s far from her glory days of 1999-2005, highlighted by the fact that she has been upstaged by Beyoncé at two of her much hyped VMA appearances (in 2011 when her Video Vanguard Award acceptance became an introduction to Beyoncé’s performance where she revealed her pregnancy, and the 2016 VMAs when Britney had to follow Beyoncé’s 10+ minutes of epic live showmanship with a basic lipsync movement). She did find success in Vegas, performing a hit residency show for 4 years and bringing in a different crowd to the Celine Dion audience, which has opened doors for other younger failing artists to seek Vegas as an option (cough Lady Gaga cough). But Britney is no more a force to be reckoned with in the industry, her Diva status resting on past glories and nostalgia.

Christina released two albums in the 2010s, both commercial failures. She found relevance as a judge on the Voice, but as the show has yet to put out ne viable pop act, its success is questionable as being relevant beyond the moment of airing. She has had successes as a featured artist, but even her 2018 return has been now unceremoniously trumped. While Christina is undeniably talented, her Diva status is questionable at this point, her performances shaky at best, pitchy and noisy at worst. She can’t even get a Las Vegas gig, so that about sums it up.

Beyoncé had a rough 2011. Her album 4 was commercially her weakest, and yet one f the favourites for her fans, but there was genuine doubts about whether Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry had replaced her as the reigning queens of pop music. After taking time off to have her first child Blue, Beyoncé returned to performing in 2012, then conquered the Super Bowl in 2013 and embarked on the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour without releasing new music. The release of her self-titled album in December that year out of the blue, without any amount of promotion or warning heralded a new age of Beyoncé, which is perhaps the peak of her career. With the release of Lemonade n 2016, and her second consecutive and most definitely race-linked loss to win the AOTY at the Grammys, Beyoncé has now established herself definitely as the greatest entertainer of her generation, and a successor to the greats like Michael Jackson and Prince, with her black feminist narratives and imagery being celebrated as revolutionary and some of the best music by women. 15 years since her solo debut, Beyoncé currently reigns supreme, unquestionably the best and biggest western popular musician and yet an underdog in many ways, underestimated for her vocal skills and overlooked by white audiences (ad establishments). She has had 6 consecutive Number 1 debuting albums in the US (first and only woman to do so), won 24 MTV Video Music Awards (most in the awards history) including the Video Vanguard Award, 22 Grammys (2^nd most winning and the most nominated woman), The Recording Industry Association of America recognized Beyoncé as the Top Certified Artist in America, during the 2000s decade, Billboard named her the Top Radio Songs Artist of the Decade, the Top Female Artist of the 2000s decade, and awarded her their Millennium Award in 2011, In 2014, she became the highest-paid black musician in history, with all 12 tracks of Lemonade debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Beyoncé also became the first female act to chart 12 or more songs at the same time, and she has become a black feminist icon championing back women’s rights and setting new standards for live performances. So it’s safe to say Beyoncé has kept her Diva status intact, and in fact ascended above that, and I haven’t even had the time to talk in details about everything she’s done since 2013. She’s just on another league entirely. H yeah, by the time I’m writing this, Everything Is Love has come out. So, let the slayage commence again.