Pop The 1980s saw the reinvention of
Michael Jackson, and the worldwide superstardom of
Prince,
Madonna, and
Whitney Houston, who were all among the most successful musicians during this time. Michael Jackson, along with
Prince, was the first African-American artist to have his music videos in heavy rotation on
MTV, with "
Beat It", and "
Billie Jean". (
Donna Summer placed the first two videos by an African-American female artist, with "
She Works Hard for the Money" and "
Unconditional Love", both in 1983.) Jackson's
Thriller (1982) is the
best-selling album of all time, selling 25 million copies during the decade. The album had sold over 65 million copies. His other album, 1987's
Bad, has the honour of being the first album in history to have five number-one singles on the
Billboard Hot 100. Its accompanying world tour also made history by being the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist in the 1980s, as well as the highest-grossing at the time. In addition to being the biggest-selling artist of the decade, Jackson had nine number-one singles – more than any other artists during the decade – and spent the longest time at number one (27 weeks) in the 1980s. He won numerous awards, including "Artist of the Decade" and "Artist of the Century", and was arguably the biggest star of the 1980s.
Madonna was the best-selling female pop music artist of the decade. Her third studio release,
True Blue, became the
best-selling female album of the 1980s. Other Madonna albums from the decade include
Like a Virgin, one of the best selling albums of all-time, and
Like a Prayer ("As close to art as pop music gets," said
Rolling Stone). Madonna made music videos a marketing tool and was among the first to make them an art form. Her songs topped several charts, such as: "
Like a Virgin", "
Papa Don't Preach", "
La Isla Bonita" and "
Like a Prayer". Madonna was named artist of the decade by several magazines and awards.
Whitney Houston was the best-selling female R&B artist of the decade. Her
eponymous debut studio album was the best-selling debut album by a solo artist at the time, and her sophomore album
Whitney is the first female album to debut at No. 1 in the
Billboard 200. She also became the first and only artist to earn seven consecutive number-one songs on the
Billboard Hot 100, from "
Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "
Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988. Her
crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on
MTV influenced generations of
African-American artists.
Paula Abdul hit it big in 1988. With her debut album
Forever Your Girl, she was the first female to have four number-one singles from a debut album (only
The Jackson 5 had done the same with their debut). She had five top ten hits from the album. By 1980, the
disco genre, largely dependent on
orchestras, was replaced by a lighter
synthpop production, which subsequently fuelled dance music. In the latter half of the 1980s,
teen pop experienced its first wave, with bands and artists including
Exposé,
Debbie Gibson,
Tiffany,
Belinda Carlisle,
New Edition,
Taylor Dayne,
Stacey Q,
The Bangles,
New Kids on the Block,
Laura Branigan,
Michael Bolton,
Brenda K. Starr,
Boy George,
Glenn Medeiros and others becoming teen idols. Prominent American
urban pop acts of the 1980s include
Tina Turner,
Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston,
Chaka Khan, and
Diana Ross. African-American artists like
Lionel Richie and
Prince became some of the decade's biggest stars. Their hit albums included
1999,
Purple Rain, and ''
Sign o' the Times by Prince and Lionel Richie, Can't Slow Down, and Dancing on the Ceiling'' by Richie. Prince was one of the decade's most prolific artists. He was responsible for artists such as
Vanity 6, for whom he wrote the dance chart-topping "
Nasty Girl";
Morris Day and
The Time, for whom he wrote the top 20 "
Jungle Love";
Sheila E., for whom he wrote the top ten songs "
The Glamorous Life" and number 11 "
A Love Bizarre"; and
Wendy & Lisa and
Apollonia 6. He wrote "
I Feel for You" for
Chaka Khan, which won him a Grammy for best R&B song; "
Sugar Walls" for
Sheena Easton; and as well as doing a duet with "
U Got the Look", he wrote "
Manic Monday", a number two pop hit for The Bangles. Artists that covered his music included
Tom Jones, who brought his version of the song "
Kiss" into the top 40 for the second time in the decade.
Melissa Morgan brought her cover of "
Do Me, Baby" to the top of the R&B charts in 1986. Other notable artists that covered Prince during the 1980s were
The Pointer Sisters and
Cyndi Lauper. He also won an Academy Award for the song "
Purple Rain". In 1989, Irish singer
Sinéad O'Connor recorded a cover of his song "
Nothing Compares 2 U", which would become the biggest song of the year worldwide in the new decade to follow. Prince had four number-one singles and 14 top-ten hits on the Hot 100 Chart. Lionel Richie teamed with
Diana Ross to record one of the decade's biggest hits "
Endless Love", which topped the Billboard charts for nine weeks. Other songs by Richie, such as "
All Night Long" and "
Hello" also topped the charts, and he would have a total of five number one hits and thirteen top ten singles.
Diana Ross brought "
Upside Down" to the top spot in 1980; she would have two number-one singles and eight top ten hits in the decade.
Tina Turner topped the charts with "
What's Love Got to Do with It" and scored a total of six top ten singles.
Donna Summer's "
She Works Hard for the Money" was a continuation of the feminist movement starting in the 70s and a rallying cry for those who worked hard and wanted to be treated fairly. She would have five top-ten singles in the decade.
Bruce Springsteen's
Born in the U.S.A.,
AC/DC's
Back in Black,
Def Leppard's
Hysteria, and
Bon Jovi's
Slippery When Wet were some of the decade's biggest-selling albums on the Billboard Top 200 chart. During the mid-1980s American pop singer
Cyndi Lauper was considered the "Voice of the
MTV Generation of the '80s" and so different visual style that made the world for teens. Her first two albums ''
She's So Unusual (1984) and True Colors'' (1986) were critically and commercially successful, spawning the hits, "
Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "
Time After Time", "
She Bop", "
All Through the Night", "
The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", "
True Colors" and "
Change of Heart".
Richard Marx rose to fame in the late 80s and he is the only male artist in history to have his first seven singles reach the top 5 of the
Billboard charts. He has scored a total of 14 number one singles, both as a performer and as a songwriter/producer. As a singer, his No. 1 hits include "
Hazard", "
Right Here Waiting", "
Hold On to the Nights", "
Endless Summer Nights", and "
Satisfied". According to
Billboard, Marx "holds the distinction of having written songs that have hit No. 1 on various
Billboard charts in each of the last four decades." Several British artists made the successful transition to pop during the 1980s and saw great commercial success, such as
David Bowie,
Phil Collins,
John Lennon,
Billy Ocean,
Sheena Easton and
Paul McCartney. Many British pop bands also dominated the American charts in the early 1980s. Many of them became popular due to their constant exposure on
MTV, these bands included
The Human League,
Culture Club,
Duran Duran, and
Wham!. Between the four, they have had 9 U.S. number ones with hits like "
Don't You Want Me", "
Karma Chameleon", "
The Reflex" and "
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". In the later part of the decade,
Rick Astley,
George Michael as a solo artist,
Terence Trent D'Arby, and
Fine Young Cannibals all found chart success. At the beginning of the 1980s, Australian artists like
Olivia Newton-John,
Men at Work,
Air Supply, and
AC/DC all had chart success, later in the decade
INXS and
Crowded House scored hits. Olivia Newton-John's hit "
Physical" would top the Hot 100 for 10 weeks and be the decade's biggest hit in the US; she would have six top ten singles during the 80s. Canadian artists such as
Men Without Hats,
Bryan Adams, and
Corey Hart achieved huge success during the decade. American artists such as
Blondie,
Christopher Cross,
Steve Perry,
Toni Basil,
Michael Sembello,
Matthew Wilder,
Kim Carnes,
Devo,
Karla Bonoff,
The Weather Girls,
Ray Parker Jr.,
Billy Crystal,
Eddie Money,
Don Johnson,
Bruce Willis,
Bobby McFerrin,
The B-52's,
Charlene,
Martika,
Stevie B and
Eddie Murphy also had at least one big hit. American artists such as
Michael Jackson,
Whitney Houston,
Madonna,
Bruce Springsteen,
Kenny Loggins,
Kool & the Gang,
The Pointer Sisters,
Huey Lewis and the News,
Billy Joel,
Hall & Oates,
Prince,
The Go-Go's,
Kenny Rogers and
John Mellencamp, then known as John Cougar, ruled the charts throughout the decade in the US. Jackson, Houston, Prince, Madonna, Joel and Springsteen along with
U2,
Dire Straits,
Phil Collins,
The Police,
Queen,
The Rolling Stones and
Eurythmics achieved tremendous success worldwide. File:Michael Jackson 1984.jpg|
Michael Jackson is one of the most successful
pop music artists in history and has been nicknamed the "
King of Pop" File:Madonna_in_concert_wearing_fishnets_1987_(cropped).jpg|
Madonna, nicknamed the "Queen of Pop", was the best-selling female pop music artist of the decade File:Whitney Houston - The Star-Ledger (1987).jpg|
Whitney Houston, nicknamed "the Voice", is one of the biggest selling music artists of all time, with over 220 million records sold worldwide. File:Prince from Under the Cherry Moon, 1986.png|Recording artist
Prince was one of the most influential musicians of the decade. His 1984
Purple Rain album was certified 13× Platinum by the
RIAA. Rock In the 1980s, rock music was more precisely defined and split up into multiple subgenres.
Hard rock and heavy/glam metal in concert, 1988 Beginning in 1983 and peaking in success in 1986-1992, the decade saw the resurgence of
hard rock music and the emergence of its
glam metal subgenre. Bands such as
AC/DC,
Queen,
Chicago,
Def Leppard,
Kiss,
Mötley Crüe,
Bon Jovi,
Quiet Riot,
Scorpions,
Europe,
Ratt,
Twisted Sister,
Poison,
Dokken,
Whitesnake, and
Cinderella were among the most popular acts of the decade. The 1980s saw the emergence of wildly popular hard rock band
Guns N' Roses and the successful comebacks of
Aerosmith and
Alice Cooper in the late 1980s. The success of hard rock act
Van Halen spanned throughout the entire decade, first with singer
David Lee Roth and later with
Sammy Hagar. Queen, which had expanded its music to experimental and crossover genres in the early 1980s, returned to guitar-driven hard rock with
The Miracle in 1989. Additionally, a few women managed to achieve stardom in the 1980s hard rock scene, including:
Pat Benatar, Ann and Nancy Wilson of
Heart, and former
Runaways members
Joan Jett and
Lita Ford. and
Slash of Guns N' Roses The
arena rock trend of the 1970s continued in the 1980s with bands like
Styx,
Rush,
Journey,
Foreigner,
Starship,
REO Speedwagon,
Heart,
ZZ Top, and
Aerosmith. Traditionally associated (and often confused) with hard rock, heavy metal was also extremely popular throughout the decade, with
Ozzy Osbourne achieving success during his solo career; bands like
Iron Maiden,
Judas Priest and
Dio were also widely popular British acts.
Speed metal pioneer
Motörhead maintained its popularity through the release of several albums.
Underground scenes produced an array of more extreme, aggressive metal subgenres:
thrash metal broke into the mainstream with numerous bands, including the genre's U.S. "Big Four" (
Metallica,
Slayer,
Anthrax and
Megadeth), as well as
Exodus,
Testament,
Overkill, Brazil's
Sepultura and Germany's "
Big Teutonic Four":
Kreator,
Destruction,
Sodom and
Tankard. By the late 1980s, Metallica would achieve mainstream success and would become one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Other styles like
power metal,
death metal and
black metal would remain a
subcultural phenomena. The decade also saw the emergence of a string of guitar virtuosi:
Eddie Van Halen,
George Lynch,
Joe Satriani,
Steve Vai,
Randy Rhoads,
Michael Schenker,
Jason Becker and
Yngwie Malmsteen achieved international recognition for their skills. While considerably less numerous,
bass guitar virtuosi also gained momentum in the 1980s:
Geddy Lee (of
Rush),
Billy Sheehan (of
David Lee Roth and
Mr. Big fame),
Cliff Burton (of
Metallica) and alternative/funk metal bassist
Les Claypool (of
Primus fame) became famous during that period. Iron Maiden founder and bassist
Steve Harris has also been praised numerous times for his galloping style of bass playing. Both hard rock and heavy metal were extremely popular live genres and bands toured extensively around the globe.
Alternative rock relied on
college radio airplay, constant touring, and a grassroots fanbase to break into the musical mainstream. By 1984, a majority of groups signed to
independent record labels were mining from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a sharp break from the futuristic, hyper-rational post-punk years. Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock was mainly an underground phenomenon. While on occasion a song would become a commercial hit or albums would receive critical praise in mainstream publications like
Rolling Stone, alternative rock in the 1980s was primarily relegated to independent record labels,
fanzines and
college radio stations. Alternative bands built underground followings by touring constantly and regularly releasing low-budget albums. In the case of the United States, new bands would form in the wake of previous bands, which created an extensive underground circuit in America, filled with different scenes in various parts of the country. Although American alternative artists of the 1980s never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on later alternative musicians and laid the groundwork for their success. performing at The House of Blues in Cleveland Early American alternative bands such as
R.E.M., The Hits,
The Feelies, and
Violent Femmes combined punk influences with
folk music and mainstream music influences. R.E.M. was the most immediately successful; its debut album,
Murmur (1983), entered the Top 40 and spawned a number of
jangle pop followers.
Minnesota bands
Hüsker Dü and
The Replacements were indicative of this shift. Both started as punk rock bands but soon diversified their sounds and became more melodic. The top mainstream
R&B artists of 1980s included
Michael Jackson,
Whitney Houston,
Prince,
Jermaine Jackson,
James Ingram,
The S.O.S. Band,
Stevie Wonder,
Kool & the Gang,
Jeffrey Osborne,
Al Jarreau,
Carl Carlton,
Imagination,
Bill Withers,
Smokey Robinson,
Rick James,
Diana Ross,
Lionel Richie,
James Brown,
Earth, Wind & Fire,
New Edition,
Evelyn King,
Patrice Rushen,
Lipps Inc.,
Chaka Khan,
Musical Youth,
KC and the Sunshine Band,
The Gap Band,
The Brothers Johnson,
Marvin Gaye,
The Jets,
George Benson,
DeBarge,
Midnight Star,
Deniece Williams,
Cheryl Lynn,
Club Nouveau,
Val Young,
Frankie Smith,
Linda Clifford,
Grover Washington Jr.,
Stephanie Mills,
Jody Watley,
Rockwell,
Babyface,
Rene and Angela,
The Whispers, and
Freddie Jackson. In the mid-1980s, many of the recordings by artists
Luther Vandross,
Freddie Jackson,
Sade,
Anita Baker,
Teddy Pendergrass,
Peabo Bryson and others became widely heard on the new
quiet storm radio format.
Tina Turner made a huge comeback during the mid-1980s, while
Donna Summer,
Diana Ross,
The Pointer Sisters and
Irene Cara had success on the pop charts first half of the decade.
Whitney Houston,
Janet Jackson, and
Jody Watley had it in the second half of the decade.
Irene Cara's "
Flashdance... What a Feeling" was the number one song worldwide in 1983, and for the decade of the 80s. Richard J. Ripani wrote that Janet Jackson's third studio album
Control (1986) was "important to the development of R&B for several reasons", as she and her producers,
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, "crafted a new sound that fuses the rhythmic elements of funk and disco, along with heavy doses of synthesizers, percussion, sound effects, and a rap music sensibility". Michael Jackson remained a prominent figure in the genre in the late 1980s, following the release of his album
Bad (1987) which sold 6 million copies in the US in the 80s, and went on to sell more than 30 million copies worldwide. Janet Jackson's 1989 album ''
Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' continued the development of contemporary R&B into the 1990s, as the album's title track "
Rhythm Nation" made "use of elements from across the R&B spectrum, including use of a sample loop, triplet swing, rapped vocal parts and blues notes."
Biz Markie and Buffy from the
Fat Boys made beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using their mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and other body parts. "Human Beatbox" artists would also sing or imitate
turntablism scratching or other instrument sounds. The 1980s also saw many artists make social statements through hip-hop. In 1982,
Melle Mel and Duke Bootee recorded "
The Message" (officially credited to Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five), a song that foreshadowed the socially conscious statements of
Run-DMC's "
It's Like That" and
Public Enemy's "
Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos". Popular hip hop artists of the 1980s include
Kurtis Blow,
Run D.M.C.,
Beastie Boys,
NWA,
LL Cool J,
Public Enemy,
Eric B. & Rakim,
Big Daddy Kane,
Boogie Down Productions,
Kid N Play,
MC Lyte,
EPMD,
Salt N Pepa, and
Ice-T,
Schooly D,
Slick Rick,
Kool Moe Dee,
Whodini,
MC Hammer, among others.
Electronic In the 1980s,
dance music records made using only
electronic instruments became increasingly popular, largely influenced by the electronic music of
Kraftwerk and 1970s
disco music. Such music was originally born of and popularized via regional
nightclub scenes in the 1980s and became the predominant type of music played in
discothèques as well as the
rave scene.
House music is a style of
electronic dance music which originated in
Chicago, Illinois, in the early 1980s. House music was strongly influenced by elements of
soul- and
funk-infused varieties of
disco. Club play from pioneering DJs like
Ron Hardy and
Lil Louis, local dance music record shops, and the popular Hot Mix 5 shows on radio station
WBMX-FM helped popularize house music in Chicago and among visiting DJs & producers from
Detroit. Trax Records and DJ International Records, local labels with wider distribution, helped popularize house music outside of Chicago. It eventually reached Europe before becoming infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide during the 1990s. It has been widely cited that the initial blueprint for
techno was developed during the mid-1980s in Detroit,
Michigan, by
Juan Atkins,
Kevin Saunderson,
Derrick May (the so-called "Belleville Three"), and
Eddie Fowlkes, all of whom attended school together at
Belleville High, near Detroit. Though initially conceived as party music that was played on daily mixed radio programs and played at parties given by cliquish, Detroit high school clubs, it has grown to be a global phenomenon.
Country , 2004 As the 1980s dawned,
pop-influenced country music was the dominant style, through such acts as
Kenny Rogers,
Ronnie Milsap,
T.G. Sheppard,
Eddie Rabbitt,
Crystal Gayle,
Anne Murray and
Dolly Parton. The 1980 film
Urban Cowboy, a romantic comedy starring
John Travolta and
Debra Winger, spawned a successful soundtrack album featuring pop-styled country songs, including "
Lookin' for Love" by
Johnny Lee, "
The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the
Charlie Daniels Band, "
Could I Have This Dance" by Murray and "
Love the World Away" by Rogers. The songs, and the movie itself, resulted in an early 1980s boom in pop-style country music, and the era is sometimes known as the "Urban Cowboy Movement". By the mid-1980s, country music audiences were beginning to tire of country-pop. Although some pop-country artists continued to record and release successful songs and albums, the genre, in general, was beginning to suffer. By 1985, a
New York Times article declared country music "dead". However, by this time, several newcomers were working behind the scenes to reverse this perception. The year 1986 brought forth several new artists who performed in traditional country styles, such as honky-tonk. This sparked the "new traditionalist" movement, or a return to traditional country music. The most successful of these artists included
Randy Travis,
Dwight Yoakam,
Ricky Van Shelton and
Holly Dunn. Also, artists such as
Kathy Mattea and
Keith Whitley, both of whom had been performing for a few years prior, had their first major hits in 1986; Mattea was more folk-styled, while Whitley was pure honky-tonk. But the new traditionalist movement had already taken hold as early as 1981 when newcomers such as
Ricky Skaggs and
George Strait had their first big hits.
Reba McEntire had her first big hit in 1980 followed by 15 other number-one hit singles during the decade. Also, songwriter–guitarist and
Chet Atkins protégée
Steve Wariner emerged as a popular act starting in the early 1980s. Another boom period for newcomers with new traditionalist styles was in 1989, when artists such as
Clint Black,
Garth Brooks,
Mary Chapin Carpenter,
Lorrie Morgan, and
Travis Tritt had their first big hits. It was Keith Whitley who was seen as being one of the torchbearers of the new traditionalist movement, due to his pure honky-tonk style in the vein of Lefty Frizzell and others. Whitley was a known heavy drinker, and alcohol poisoning ended his life in May 1989, just weeks after a song about triumph over personal demons – "
I'm No Stranger to the Rain"—became a huge country hit. In keeping with the neotraditionalist movement,
Dolly Parton,
Linda Ronstadt and
Emmylou Harris teamed up to release 1987's Platinum-selling
Trio album. Composed mostly of traditional songs set to acoustic arrangements, the album won a Grammy in 1988 for best country collaboration. Vocal duos were also popular because of their harmonies, most notably
The Bellamy Brothers and
The Judds. Several of the Bellamy Brothers' songs included double-entendre' laden
hooks, on songs such as "Do You Love as Good As You Look". The Judds, a mother-and-daughter duo, combined elements of contemporary pop and traditional country music on songs such as "Why Not Me" and "
Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Ol' Days)". Country music groups and bands continued to rise in popularity during the 1980s. The most successful band was
Alabama, a
Fort Payne-based band that blended traditional and pop-country sounds with
southern rock. Their concerts regularly sold out, while their single releases regularly reached No. 1 on the
Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Their mellow love ballad side would be most prominent in songs such as "
Feels So Right," "
When We Make Love," "
There's No Way" and "
If I Had You," while their southern rock influences and Southern pride were most evident on songs like "
Tennessee River," "
Dixieland Delight" and "Song Of the South." In 1989, Alabama was named the Artist of the Decade by the
Academy of Country Music. By the end of the 1980s, the group had sold more than 24 million albums in the United States. Ranking just behind Alabama in popularity, as far as groups were concerned, were
The Oak Ridge Boys and
The Statler Brothers, both four-part harmony groups with gospel and country-pop stylings. The Oak Ridge Boys found their biggest successes with songs like "Elvira," "Bobbie Sue" and "American Made." The Statlers began the decade with tenor singer
Lew DeWitt, but health issues forced his retirement, and he'd be succeeded by
Jimmy Fortune; with Fortune, the Statlers had three No. 1 hits, the biggest of which was "
Elizabeth." The popularity of those three groups sparked a boom in new groups and bands, and by the end of the 1980s, fans were listening to such acts as
Restless Heart and
Exile, the latter which previously enjoyed success with the pop hit "
Kiss You All Over". Despite the prevailing pop-country sound, enduring acts from the 1970s and earlier continued to enjoy great success with fans.
George Jones, one of the longest-running acts of the time, recorded several successful singles, including "
He Stopped Loving Her Today".
Conway Twitty continued to have a series of No. 1 hits, with 1986's "Desperado Love" becoming his 40th chart-topper on the
Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, a record that stood for nearly 20 years. The film ''
Coal Miner's Daughter profiled the life of Loretta Lynn (with Sissy Spacek in the lead role), while Willie Nelson also had a series of acting credits. Dolly Parton had much success in the 1980s, with several leading film roles, two No. 1 albums and 13 number-one hits, and many successful tours; she also teamed up with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt in 1987 for the multi-platinum Trio'' album. Others who had been around for a while and continued to have success were
Eddy Arnold,
Johnny Cash,
Merle Haggard,
Waylon Jennings,
Ray Price,
Hank Williams Jr. and
Tammy Wynette. In 1981,
Jim Reeves and
Patsy Cline, two artists who died in the 1960s (both in plane crashes), re-emerged in the spotlight when producer Bob Ferguson electronically created the "duet" "
Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue)." Neither Reeves nor Cline recorded together during their lifetimes but both recorded some of the same songs, and it was the style of "Have You Ever Been Lonely" that was the most conducive to a duet. The song was a top-5 success on the country chart in early 1982. In addition to newcomer Whitley, top
classic country and influential performers who died during the decade included
Red Sovine,
Whitey Ford,
Marty Robbins,
Merle Travis,
Ernest Tubb,
Wynn Stewart and
Tex Williams. Although not directly associated with country music,
Roy Orbison, a popular performer with many country music fans and whose styles wound up being influential with many newcomers, died in 1988. == Europe ==