10 Greatest UK No.1 Singles Of The 1990s
5. Fugees - Killing Me Softly
"Killing Me Softly With His Song" has been performed by many artists from many walks of life since its creation in 1972.
Roberta Flack was the first to make it a hit, but the most famous performance of the track belongs to Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michel - also known as The Fugees.
The Fugees remained faithful to the Roberta Flack version's soulful and tortured aura, whilst injecting their own flavour of reggae-infused beats and a sample from A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum".
The end result was a transformation of this once-slow ballad into a thought-provoking toe-tapper.
"Killing Me Softly..." was the best-selling track in all of the UK for 1996 and has become a staple of 90s RnB nostalgia. It also won the band a Grammy Award for "Best RnB Vocal Performance" and the VMA for "Best RnB Music Video".
This song remains one of the best examples of a trans-genre cover in history. Lauryn Hill's vocals are beautiful - on par with the great Ms. Flack - and the hip-hop backing track is the 90s to a tee.