Move Over, Yellowjackets: There's A New Show With The Best '90s Soundtrack On TV

We always talk about movies with fantastic soundtracks, but TV shows rarely garner the same amount of attention or love, which is a shame. For the past few years, Yellowjackets has featured one of the best soundtracks on the small screen with a great and diverse collection of iconic ‘90s tracks. While it’s long reigned supreme, there’s a new show on the 2026 TV schedule that I think is the new king: Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.

This new Ryan Murphy anthology series, which is getting surprisingly great reviews from critics, is something I’ve been spending a lot of time with lately. Though I was initially drawn to one of the most iconic and tragic love stories of the ‘90s, it’s the soundtrack that has me excited for each new episode. Let me explain…

Track For Track, The Love Story Soundtrack Is In A League Of Its Own

I love me a good needle drop, and Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette doesn’t disappoint in this regard. When I first pressed play last month, I jumped in expecting to lose an hour a week to a show that’s the perfect blend of prestige and trash TV, but instead I was taken on a nostalgic trip back to the ‘90s with one banger after another. I mean, the pilot episode features everything from Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me” to Beastie Boys’ “So What’Cha Want?” to Peter Gabriel’s “Blood of Eden,” and that’s just in the first hour.

FX has put out a playlist featuring every song used in Love Story that is broken down by episode (this is good for anyone who hasn’t watched yet), and it’s one of those “all killer, no filler” type of affairs. You have dream pop classics like “Heaven or Las Vegas” by Cocteau Twins and “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star, and so many others. Since starting the series, I’ve found myself jamming the show’s playlist on Spotify, and it’s taking me back to my childhood, when my cousin introduced me to a lot of this music.

It’s Not Just The Songs, But How They’re Used

It would be one thing if the Love Story soundtrack just had great tracks playing in a vacuum. However, what really makes these tracks so great is how they are used in relation to the events in the story.

The second episode opens with a montage of JFK Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) attempting to win Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) over by sending bouquets of roses to her office at Calvin Klein, set to En Vogue’s “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It) that’s just so perfect. Later on, there’s an equally great scene set to Björk’s “Human Behavior” that I haven’t been able to get over since. Don’t even get me started with the Mazzy Star needle drop in the third episode.

I’m not saying that this show wouldn’t be great without its expertly crafted soundtrack, but the song choices in the first few episodes have definitely heightened the experience.

Don’t get me wrong, the Yellowjackets soundtrack has some of my all-time favorite tracks (this includes several of Radiohead’s best songs), but the musical choices in Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette have me dying to watch each new episode with my Hulu subscription.