February 4, 2013 | 12:00am ET
Prior to Saturday night, My Bloody Valentine hadn’t released an album in 21 years. Here’s what music was like when Loveless was released way back in 1991:
Tyler, the Creator was born
Justin Timberlake turned 11
Jack White turned 16
Whitney Houston sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl
New Kids on the Block headlined the Super Bowl Halftime show
Michael Jackson signed a $1 billion deal with Sony Records
Guns N’ Roses toured behind Use Your Illusion I and II
The first-ever Lollapalooza toured the country, headlined by Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against the Machine
Dave Matthews formed Dave Matthews Band
Prince formed The New Power Generation
Refused formed Refused
Portishead formed Portishead
Devo broke up
Talking Heads broke up
The Replacements broke up
N.W.A. broke up
Nirvana released Nevermind
Metallica released The Black Album
Red Hot Chili Peppers released Blood Sugar Sex Magik
U2 released Achtung Baby
Guns N’ Roses released Use Your Illusion II
Green Day released 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
A Tribe Called Quest released The Low End Theory
Michael Jackson released Dangerous
Pearl Jam released their debut album, Ten
Smashing Pumpkins released their debut album, Gish
Massive Attack released their debut album, Blue Lines
Temple of the Dog released their one and only album
Blur released their debut album, Leisure
Boyz II Men released their debut album, Cooleyhighharmony
Tupac released his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now; it flopped commercially
Pixies released their final album, Trompe le Monde
23-year-old Kylie Minogue released her fourth album, Let’s Get to It
Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” was the long-running #1 single on the Billboard Top 100 (seven weeks)
R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” peaked at #4
Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” peaked at #6
“Do the Bartman” hit #1 on the UK, Australian, New Zealand, and Norwegian singles charts
As Bill Clinton decides to run for office, “O.P.P.” and “Let’s Talk About Sex” top the hip-hop charts
A decade after its initial release, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” is used in a Levi’s commercial, and becomes The Clash’s first and only number 1 single in the UK.
Mariah Carey won Best New Artist at the Grammys
Will Smith was best known as the rapper The Fresh Prince, whose show was in its second season
This was the cast of Saturday Night Live (sans Michael Jordan)
Johnny Carson was host of The Tonight Show
David Letterman was host of Late Night
Conan O’Brien was a writer for The Simpsons
Jon Stewart was host of Short Attention Span Theater
Jimmy Fallon was a junior at Saugerties High School
Dr. Dre and Suge Knight formed Death Row Records
Bruce Springsteen married Patti Scialfa
Current Van Halen bassist, Wolfgang Van Halen, was born
Jay-Z went on his first tour
Michael Jackson’s video for “Black or White” premiered live to 27 countries — controversy erupted over its vandalism-filled ending and crotch grabbing
11-year-old Ryan Gosling (of Dead Man’s Bones) sang in a Mormon talent show
Kenny Rogers began the “Kenny Rogers Roasters” restaurant chain
Mark Wahlberg was feeling the vibrations
Millions of pre-teens discovered The Secret of the Ooze. The film’s soundtrack gave us Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap” (go ninja, go ninja, go!)
Vanilla Ice also starred in his feature film debut, Cool as Ice
On a Friday signed to EMI, changed their name to Radiohead
Remember how long ago 1969 felt in 1991? Well that’s 1991 in 2013.
