About This Quiz
Drum roll, please…hold it, hold it...hit that power chord! It’s time for you to set aside this century and look back about 30 – yes, 30 – years to everyone's favorite pop songs. That’s right; it’s your chance to beat our quiz about number one hits of the '80s.
The '80s were an in-your-face time with in-your-face music, spawning glam rock, glossy pop, and legendary dancefloor tunes of all kinds. Do you remember how many number-one hits Michael Jackson generated in this decade? And do you recall how everything rock changed once Guns N’ Roses blazed into the top 10, again and again?
A guy by the name of Bon Jovi said one “prayer,” shot to the top of the charts and made an entire career based on a breakthrough debut album. The '80s spawned memorable lyrics that reverberate even today, with lines like “doves cried,” “glory of love,” and “the wind beneath my wings,” all catching our hearts and making our overly-heavy mascara streak and stain the shoulder pads on our favorite jazzercize shirts.
Do you remember the guys who had hit after hit…and it turned out that they were just lip-syncing the words? And do you know all of the lyrics to the biggest Roxette songs of the decade?
The '80s weren’t just a decade – they generated a major shift in music culture, which almost immediately descended into the madness of grunge during the '90s. Take our number one '80s hits quiz and see how much you really know about these iconic songs.
The late Price sang "When Doves Cry," and it was his first No. 1 hit. After he died in 2016, like a freed dove, the song soared back into the Top 10.
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On 1980's "Autoamerican" album, Blondie scored a huge hit with "Rapture." The song was made even more popular by a weird, long-form music video.
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The Police, led by a guy named Sting, sang "Every Breath You Take," which was nominated for the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1983.
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Jon Bon Jovi and crew sang "Livin' on a Prayer," which grabbed the No. 1 spot for four weeks. It was a single from 1986's "Slippery When Wet."
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In 1987, the No. 1 song of the entire year was "Walk Like an Egyptian," which is by far the best-known hit from The Bangles.
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In 1987, Tiffany scored her biggest hit with "I Think We're Alone Now." She later found another huge hit in a cover of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There."
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Olivia Newton-John released her 12th, yes, 12th album and found an amazing hit with "Physical." The song topped the Billboard chart for 10 weeks.
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In 1984, Madonna sang "Like a Virgin," which sparked public controversy. She also wore a white wedding dress in the sultry music video.
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Not one, but two songs from the film "Footloose" reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts. And the tune "Footloose" became one of the biggest hits by Kenny Loggins.
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"Faith" was the No. 1 song of all of 1988, all thanks to George Michael's breathy, dramatic delivery. It was a huge solo hit for the singer, who had just left the band Wham!
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Bette Midler's rendition of "Wing Beneath My Wings" was made extremely famous thanks in part to the sloppy-sad movie "Beaches."
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Janet is Michael Jackson's sister and she sang "I Miss You Much," an upbeat, unironic love song that was No. 1 for four weeks in 1989.
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A German pop group named Milli Vanilli had a major hit with "Blame it on the Rain." Later, it was discovered that the duo didn't sing any parts of their hit album.
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Phil Collins sang the very last No. 1 song of the entire decade, the super-depressing song called "Another Day in Paradise."
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Has there ever been a voice like the late Robert Palmer's? He sold lust to great effect in "Addicted to Love."
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"That's What Friends Are For" was actually first recorded by Rod Stewart in 1982. But Dionne Warwick made the song No. 1 in 1985.
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Rick Springfield parlayed his pop stardom into a B-movie career. But before all of that, he was famous for "Jessie's Girl."
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Roxette has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide, in large part thanks to towering hits like "Listen to Your Heart." The band has four U.S. No. 1 hits to its credit.
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"And here I go again on my own, goin' down the only road I've ever known, like a hobo I was born to walk alone." With their crazy hairdos, Whitesnake sort of looked like hobos, too.
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Starship's 1985 album "Knee Deep in the Hoopla" spawned numerous hits, none bigger than "We Built This City," a song that was ostensibly about selling out ... by a band that actually did sell out.
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It was the Bee Gees who wrote "Islands in the Stream." But it was Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton who made the song inescapable in 1983.
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On an album titled "Repeat Offender," Richard Marx sang that he'd be "Right Here Waiting." It was a worldwide hit that inspired all sorts of cover versions.
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In 1987, U2 sang of intense longing in "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." It was the band's second straight No. 1 single, following "With or Without You."
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Bon Jovi is still cranking out the hits, but in the 80s they were even bigger. "Bad Medicine" was No. 1 for two weeks in 1988.
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Mr. Mister gained 80s icon status with an amazing string of hits. "Broken Wings" topped the charts for two weeks in 1985.
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Steve Winwood scored numerous big hits in the 80s, but "Roll With It" was particularly successful, topping the charts for four weeks.
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George Harrison, of Beatles fame, got even more famous thanks to his poppy hit "Got My Mind Set on You," which repeated the same chorus over and over and over and over again.
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In 1986, Boston finally released its ballad "Amanda," a single from a concept album named "Third Stage." The song had been recorded six years earlier but never released.
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"But if you see me walking by, and the tears are in my eyes, look away, baby, look away." Those were the words to Chicago's big hit, "Look Away."
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"We'll live forever, knowing together that we did it all for the glory of love." So sang Peter Cetera in "Glory of Love," a major hit for the singer after he left the band Chicago.
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