The 90s! A time before iPhones and social media, when life wasn’t as complex, country music was, well, country music, and women ruled the airwaves. The rise of female artists of the ’90s was in stark contrast to today’s situation of too few women making a name for themselves in the genre. (Although things seem to be changing with the likes of Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce, Ashley McBryde, Megan Moroney and more being heard.)

In the ’90s, women ruled the genre. From Shania Twain and Faith Hill to Jo Dee Messina and Lorrie Morgan, everywhere you looked another female artist was topping the charts. What a time to be alive . In honor of the women of country we are looking back at 10 of the many women that were celebrated in the ’90s.

10. Terri Clark

Birth Name: Terri Lynn Sauson
Debut album: Terri Clark – August 8, 1995
Recognizable Hits: “Better Things to Do” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” “Girls Lie Too”

Canadian country music singer, Terri Clark, made her way to Nashivlle, signing a record deal in 1995. That same year, Clark, released her self-titled debut, which included her first three hit songs, “Better Things to Do,” “If I Were You” and “When Boy Meets Girl.” Clark followed that up with Just the Same in 1996, featuring “Poor Poor Pitiful Me.” She didn’t stop there. “Emotional Girl” and “Your Easy on the Eyes” reached the top of the charts, with “Now That I Found You” and “Everytime I Cry” landing at No. 2 to cap off her ’90s streal.

9. Lorrie Morgan

Birth Name: Lorrie Morgan
Debut album: Leave the Light On – May 11, 1989
Recognizable hits: “Five Minutes” “What Part of No”

Daughter of George Morgan and widow of Keith Whitley, Lorrie Morgan made a name for herself in country music. While the singer charted in the ’80s, beginning her career at the age of 13, it was ’90s country music that saw her shine with No. 1 hits like “Five Minutes” “What Part of No” and “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.” Her albums Leave the Light On (1989), Something in Red (1991) and Watch Me (1992) are all certified platinum. She proceeded to release several more albums in the ’90s, including War Paint (1994), Greater Need (1996), Shakin’ Thimgs Up (1997), Secret Love (1998) and My Heart (1999).

“When I first fell in love with country music, part of the reason was that it was so much from the heart,” Morgan told the Journal of Country Music. “It was so simple, lyrically, everything. It was just the simplicity.”

8. Patty Loveless

Birth Name: Patricia Lee Ramey
Debut album: Patty Loveless – January 1987
Recognizable Hits: “Blame it on Your Heart,” “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye,” “You Can Feel Bad”

Patty Loveless began garnering hits in the late ’80s with “Timber, I’m Falling in Love,” and “Chains.” That streak continued through the’90s with songs “I’m That Kind of Girl,” “Blame it on Your Heart,” and “I Try to Think About Elvis.” Four of her albums—Honky Tonk Angel, Only What I Feel, When Fallen Angels Fly, and The Trouble with the Truth—have been certified platinum. Loveless took the reins in the ‘90s with her traditional, pop, bluegrass sound paired with incomparable vocals that have graced many projects and collaborations with artists such as  Vince Gill, George Jones, and Dwight Yoakam. The ’90s wouldn’t have sounded the same without Patty Loveless.

7. Wynonna Judd

Birth Name: Wyonna Judd
Debut (solo) album: Wynonna – released March 31, 1992
Recognizable hits: “No One Else on Earth,” “She is His Only Need,” “I Saw the Light”

She may have released her debut solo album in 1992, but Wynonna was well-known to country fans much earlier. As a member of the Judds, with her mother Naomi, Wy made an indelible mark in music. It was when Naomi retired, due to being diagnosed with Hepatitis C, that Wynona went out on her own, and forged her own path. Wy was worried about how she would be received on her own, but right out of the solo box, she released hit after hit with “She Is His Only Need,” “I Saw the Light,” and “No One Else on Earth,” all hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart. She continued putting out hits through the ‘90s with “Rock Bottom,” “Girls with Guitars,” and “When Love Starts Talkin’” And the rest is history.

6. Jo Dee Messina

Birth Name: Jo Dee Messina
Debut album: Jo Dee Messina – released March 26, 1996
Recognizable hits: “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” “Bye Bye,” “I’m Alright”

Jo Dee Messina came onto the country music scene with her self-titled debut album, featuring the debut single, “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” followed by “You’re Not in Kansas Anymore.” Her second album, I’m Alright, in 1998, spawned three No. 1 hit singles: “Bye, Bye”; “I’m Alright”; and “Stand Beside Me.” She reached the No. 2 spot with the album’s fourth single, “Lesson in Leavin,’” a cover of Dottie West’s 1980 hit. Before closing out the ‘90s, Messina released “Because You Love Me”, which gave her another Top 10 hit. In 2000, Messina was awarded the CMA Horizon Award and the Billboard Award for “Most Played Female at Country Radio.” She didn’t stop there, Messina continued her success through the early 2000s with Burn.

5. Trisha Yearwood

Birth Name: Patricia Yearwood
Debut album: Trisha Yearwood – release July 2, 1991
Recognizable hits: “She’s In Love with the Boy,” “Walkaway Joe,” “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)”

Trisha Yearwood introduced herself to country music when she released her debut single “She’s in Love with the Boy” in 1991. The song immediately hit No. 1 on the Billboard country charts, putting Yearwood on the country music map right out of the box. She followed that up with three more singles,  “Like We Never Had a Broken Heart,” “The Woman Before Me”, and “That’s What I Like About You.” Her album sold over 1 million copies making her the first female country artist to sell a million copies of her debut album. She continued through the ’90s releasing hits “Walkaway Joe,” “The Song Remembers When” and “XXX’s and OOO’s, before finding crossover success with the release of “How Do I Live,” featured on the soundtrack of the Nicolas Cage movie Con Air in 1997. The song was released off of Yearwood’s 1997 album, (Songbook) A Collection of Hits, which reached 4 million in sales, becoming Yearwood’s best-selling album.

4. Martina McBride

Birth Name: Martina Schiff
Debut album: The Time Has Come – released May 12, 1992
Recognizable hits: “Independence Day” “A Broken Wing” “Wild Angels”

Hailing from Sharon, Kansas, Mcbride began her career by helping sell T-shirts for Garth Brooks. Brooks knew talent when he saw it and offered Martina an opening slot on his tour. In 1991, she signed a record deal leading to the release of her debut album, The Time Has Come, in 1992. It was with her second album, The Way That I Am, that saw Martina make her mark on country music with the hit singles “My Baby Loves Me,” and “Life No. 9.” While it was met with disdain by radio programmers (due to its content of a woman fighting back from abuse), the album’s third single “Independence Day” is what sealed Martina’s status as a country mainstay. She followed that album up with Wild Angels in 1995.

Adding to her ‘90s acclaim, Martina release what is arguably one of the best Christmas albums released, White Christmas, in 1998.

3. Reba McEntire

Birth Name: Reba Nell McEntire
Debut album: Reba McEntire – released August 15, 1977
Recognizable hits: “Fancy” “Does He Love You”

While Reba began her career in the late ’70s and saw success throughout the ’80s, it was ’90s country music that saw her at her peak. McEntire took over the charts with the release of her 1990 album, Rumor Has It. It was with this album that we saw her most recognizable hit, “Fancy” (a Bobbi Gentry cover), and her No. 1 single “You Lie.” Throughout the ’90s McEntire released eight studio albums, each receiving Platinum status or higher, including For My Broken Heart, It’s Your Call, Read My Mind, and Starting Over. Solidifying her spot as a ruler of ’90s country, McEntire teamed with Linda Davis for the blockbuster hit “Does He Love You,” featured on her Greatest Hits Volume 2 album.

2. Faith Hill

Birth Name: Audrey Faith Perry
Debut album:  Take Me as I Am – released October 12, 1993
Recognizable hits: “This Kiss,” “Breathe,” “It Matters to Me”

Faith Hill was introduced to the world with her debut single “Wild One,” featured on her debut album, Take Me As I Am. Right out of the box, Hill received her first No. 1 hit with “Wild One.” The song stayed in the top spot for four consecutive weeks, making Hill the first female country artist in 30 years to do so. Her debut album also featured her second No. 1 single, “Take a Piece of My Heart” (a Janis Joplin cover), and the title track. Hill’s second album, It Matters to Me, featuring songs “I Can’t Do That Anymore,” “You Can’t Lose Me,” “Someone Else’s Dream” and “Let’s Go to Vegas,” was released in 1995 and certified 4X Platinum by the RIAA.  

1. Shania Twain

Birth name: Eileen Twain
Debut album: Shania Twin – April 20, 1993
Recognizable hits: “Any Man of Mine,” “You’re Still the One,” “Man! I Feel Like a Woman”

Shania Twain hit the country music scene in 1993 with her self-titled debut. While her debut album, which featured singles “What Made You Say That” and “Dance with the One That Brought You,” didn’t make much noise, it was her sophomore effort, The Woman in Me, that gained the singer much attention. Released on February 7, 1995, The Woman in Me, which features hits  “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”, “Any Man of Mine”, “(If You’re Not in It for Love) I’m Outta Here!”, “You Win My Love”, and “No One Needs to Know,” was certified 12x Platinum and reached over 20 million sales worldwide.

Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images