To people who were alive at the time in the 80s-early/mid 90s, how big was the diva era when you had Madonna, Janet, Whitney, Mariah, and Celine all over the radio and charts?

Was it pretty hard to escape them? I can imagine you couldn’t turn on the radio or go outside without hearing any song from them. Also, in your personal opinions, who was your favorite and what was the best song/album of that artist?