: The group solidified their U.S. stardom when "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" climbed to No. 2, signaling the start of the boy band era. Top 10 Billboard Year-End Singles (1997)
The #1 song of the year wasn’t a club banger or a rock anthem. It was Elton John’s reworked "Candle in the Wind," performed live at Princess Diana’s funeral. The recording became the (over 33 million copies). Paired with "Something About the Way You Look Tonight," it sat at #1 on the weekly Hot 100 for 14 weeks. It was inescapable, somber, and polite—the opposite of what 1997 felt like otherwise. billboard hot 100 1997