Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn covered a 1973 AM radio classic by B.W. Stevenson and turned it into the biggest hit of the year. "My Maria" spent 27 weeks in the top 40, seven at number one. 1996 was also the year of the Canadian Angels: Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion and Shania Twain. Alanis Morissette took three songs to the top in 1996, spending a total of 20 weeks at the summit. All three songs landed in the year end top ten, making Alanis Morissette the first act to do since Madonna did the same in 1985. "Head Over Feet" logged twelve weeks at number one, tying Madonna's "Into The Groove" for the longest run at number one to date. Celine Dion also placed a pair of singles in the year end top ten, including Diane Warren's "Beacause You Loved Me" and Jim Steinman's "It's All Coming Back To Me Now". Like her fellow Canadian stars Shania Twain also continued producing hits, scoring three top five singles. Among the top new acts of the year were Donna Lewis and Tony Rich. The biggest new act were No Doubt, who scored a pair of top five singles. No Doubt's album, "Tragic Kingdom" was their first nationally issued release. Joe Esposito performed on the top singles of the lead singer of Brooklyn Dreams in 1979 and featured on Brenda Russell's "Piano In The Dark" in 1988. In 1996 he finally emerged with a solo album producing a pair of top ten hits, making him the top male artist of the year.
