"Alternative" (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, I Mother Earth, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, Oasis, etc.) was big in the early 1990s. That is exactly why I took up guitar in early high school.
Right, but that was the "Alternative" to the Top 50 Billboard stuff at the time (and also arguably 80 hair metal). Most pop was not guitar driven, and it wasn't until alt rock became mainstream in the mid 90s that guitars were featured again.
