American Songwriter has highlighted three pop songs from the 1990s that share an unusual distinction: each was the first US chart-topper for its respective artist. The piece frames these tracks as landmark moments in their creators' careers, offering brief background on how each song came to be written, drawing on past interviews with the songwriters and performers involved.

The three songs featured are Boyz II Men's "End of the Road", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a then record-breaking 13 weeks and was inspired by co-writer Daryl Simmons and producer Babyface both going through divorces at the time; the Spice Girls' debut single "Wannabe", written in an unconventional, unstructured way according to co-writer Matt Rowe; and Seal's "Kiss from a Rose", used on the Batman Forever soundtrack, which Seal has described as an experimental composition written before he could properly play an instrument.