These are the mainstream and alternative rock #1s for 1991. There is some overlap. The mainstream tracks will be designated M and the alternative A.
Mysterious Ways– U2, 12 weeks at#1 M, 9 weeks at #1 A, #9 pop
All This Time – Sting, 7 weeks at #1 M, 2 weeks at number one A, #5 pop
Lift Me Up – Yes, 6 weeks at #1 M, #86 pop
Learning To Fly – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 6 weeks at #1 M, #28 pop
Right Here, Right Now – Jesus Jones, 5 weeks at#1 A, #7 M, #2 pop
Kiss Them For Me – Siouxsie and the Banshees, 5 weeks at #1 A, #23 pop
So You Think You’re In Love – Robin Hitchcock and the Egyptians, 5 weeks at #1 A. This is a great pop song, yet it did not reach the pop charts.
Run Around – Van Halen, 4 weeks at #1 M
Dream Line – Rush, 4 weeks at #1 M
Top Of The World – Van Halen, 4 weeks at #1 M
The Other Side Of Summer – Elvis Costello, 4 weeks at #1 A. I only bought Mighty Like A Rose since COVID.
Teenage Wasteland redux
Rush -Big Audio Dynamite II, 4 weeks at #1 A, #40 M, #32 pop. Samples Baba O’Riley by The Who
Highwire – The Rolling Stones, 3 weeks at #1 M, #57 pop
Losing My Religion – R.E.M., 3 weeks at #1 M, 8 weeks at #1 A, #4 pop
Get A Leg Up – John Mellencamp, 3 weeks at #1 M, #14 pop
Poundcake – Van Halen, 2 weeks at #1 M
Out In The Cold – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 2 weeks at #1 M
See The Lights -Simple Minds, 2 weeks at #1 A, #10 M, #40 pop
Get The Message – Electronic, 2 weeks at #1 A
Until She Comes – the Psychedelic Furs, 2 weeks at #1 A
Give It Away – Red Hot Chili Peppers, 2 weeks at #1 A, #73 pop. Grammy for Hard Rock Performance. I actually know this song better as Bedrock Anthem by Weird Al Yankovic
The Fly – U2, 2 weeks at number one A, #2 M, #61 pop
She Talks To Angels – the Black Crowes, 1 week at #1 M, #30 pop
Silent Lucidity – Queensryche, 1 week at #1 M, #9 pop
Heavy Fuel – Dire Straits, 1 week at #1 M, #22 A
Kinky Afro – Happy Mondays, 1 week at #1 A
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana, 1 week at #1, #7 M, #6 pop. And of course, Weird Al’s Smells Like Nirvana
At the time, I was mostly listening to U2, Sting, Petty, R.E.M., plus the Black Crowes, BAD II, and Nirvana.
There were 27 songs that reached #1 on the Billboard pop charts in 1991. I wasn’t listening much to pop radio, apparently. Some of the songs I never heard of. Then there are those, such as the most popular song of the year, that I must have heard, but my mind and my ear wouldn’t accept it.