Top 10 Best Songs of the 1980S

Slash's instantly recognizable guitar intro and Axl Rose's soaring vocals made this the definitive hard rock love song of the 1980s.

The most-downloaded song from the pre-streaming era, Journey's piano-driven anthem has endured through decades of TV placements to become an all-time classic.

Madonna's most daring single combined gospel choirs with a provocative video that sparked controversy worldwide — and remains her artistic peak.

Sting's deceptively pretty stalker anthem spent eight weeks at No. 1 in the US and became one of the most-played songs on radio in history.

Queen's transcendent Live Aid performance of their 1975 operatic epic at Wembley is considered the greatest live concert performance in rock history.

The Norwegian trio's pencil-sketch music video and Morten Harket's stratospheric falsetto made "Take On Me" one of the most beloved synth-pop songs ever made.

Prince's eight-minute guitar-solo opus is simultaneously his most rock and most vulnerable performance — an arena ballad of staggering emotional power.

Cyndi Lauper's irresistible debut single became an enduring feminist anthem with a neon-bright music video that defined the MTV era's visual language.

Toto's lush, keyboard-drenched ode to a continent none of them had visited became a radio staple and, decades later, an internet-era obsession all over again.

Slash's instantly recognizable guitar intro and Axl Rose's soaring vocals made this the definitive hard rock love song of the 1980s.

The most-downloaded song from the pre-streaming era, Journey's piano-driven anthem has endured through decades of TV placements to become an all-time classic.

Madonna's most daring single combined gospel choirs with a provocative video that sparked controversy worldwide — and remains her artistic peak.

Sting's deceptively pretty stalker anthem spent eight weeks at No. 1 in the US and became one of the most-played songs on radio in history.

Queen's transcendent Live Aid performance of their 1975 operatic epic at Wembley is considered the greatest live concert performance in rock history.

The Norwegian trio's pencil-sketch music video and Morten Harket's stratospheric falsetto made "Take On Me" one of the most beloved synth-pop songs ever made.

Prince's eight-minute guitar-solo opus is simultaneously his most rock and most vulnerable performance — an arena ballad of staggering emotional power.

Cyndi Lauper's irresistible debut single became an enduring feminist anthem with a neon-bright music video that defined the MTV era's visual language.

Toto's lush, keyboard-drenched ode to a continent none of them had visited became a radio staple and, decades later, an internet-era obsession all over again.