Music-related events during the 1980s
 "For music from a year in the 1980s, go to 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89"
This article includes an overview of popular music in the 1980s.
The 1980s saw the emergence of electronic dance music and indie pop. As disco and new wave fell out of fashion in the decade's early years, genres such as post-disco, Italo disco, Euro disco, and dance-pop became more popular. Rock music continued to enjoy a wide audience. Soft rock, glam metal, thrash metal, shred guitar characterized by heavy distortion, pinch harmonics, and whammy bar abuse became very popular. Adult contemporary, quiet storm, and smooth jazz gained popularity. In the late 1980s, glam metal became the largest, most commercially successful brand of music worldwide.
The 1980s are commonly remembered for a great increase in the use of digital recording, associated with the usage of synthesizers, with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity. Also during this decade, several major electronic genres were developed, including electro, techno, house, freestyle, and Eurodance, rising in prominence during the 1990s and beyond. Throughout the decade, R&amp;B, hip hop, and urban genres were becoming commonplace, particularly in the inner-city areas of large, metropolitan cities; rap was especially successful in the latter part of the decade, with the advent of the golden age of hip hop. These urban genres—particularly rap and hip hop—would continue their rise in popularity through the 1990s and 2000s.
A 2010 survey conducted by the digital broadcaster Music Choice, which polled over 11,000 European participants, revealed that the 1980s was the most favoured tune decade of the last 40 years.
Popular artists from the 1980s include Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Whitney Houston, U2, Bruce Springsteen, George Michael, and the Police.
Economics.
Reflecting on changes in the music industry during the 1980s, Robert Christgau later wrote in "" (1990):
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;The '80s were above all a time of international corporatization, as one major after another gave it up to media moguls in Europe and Japan. By 1990, only two of the six dominant American record companies were headquartered in the U.S. Bizzers acted locally while thinking globally in re audiences/markets (will it sell in Germany? Australia? Venezuela? Indonesia now that we've sunk the pirates? the U.S.S.R.?) and artists/suppliers (world music was a concept whose geoeconomic time had come). After a feisty start, independent labels accepted farm-team status that could lead to killings with the bigs. Cross-promotional hookah became the rule—the soundtrack album, the sponsored tour, the golden-oldie commercial, the T-shirt franchise, the video as song ad and pay-for-play programming and commodity fetish. Record executives became fewer impresarios than arbitragers, speculating in abstract bundles of rights whose physical characteristics meant little or nothing to them. Rock was mere music no longer. It was reconceived as intellectual property, as a form of capital itself.
According to Christgau, commercial stardom, as measured by music recording sales certifications, replaced artistry as an indication of a musician's significance. "When art is intellectual property, image and aura subsume aesthetic substance, whatever exactly that is", he explained. "When art is the capital, sales interface with aesthetic quality—"Thriller"'s numbers are part of its experience."
North America.
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, also 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&amp;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, 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 &amp; Lisa and Apollonia 6. He wrote "I Feel for You" for Chaka Khan, which won him a Grammy for best R&amp;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&amp;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 started 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 '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".
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, and Eddie Murphy also had at least one big hit. 
American artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Kool &amp; the Gang, The Pointer Sisters, Huey Lewis and the News, Billy Joel, Hall &amp; 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. 
Rock.
In the 1980s, rock music was more precisely defined and split up into multiple subgenres.
Hard rock and heavy/glam metal.
Beginning in 1983 and peaking in success in 1986-1990, 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