The 150 Best Rock Songs Of The 80s

Table of Contents

Sharing

Long hair, guitar solos, and lots of the best rock bands of all time provided in the 1980s for a perfect mood. In our playlist, you can find the 150 best rock songs of the 80s.

In the 80s, pop-metal bands caused a big stir in the charts. Bands like Bon Jovi, Europe, and the most successful German band, the Scorpions, were the focus of the music lovers.

Punk music had it harder at the beginning of the 80s. The so-called post-punk with groups like The Cure and Joy Division delivered a new soundtrack that was convincing.

Bands like Queen, Simple Minds, U2, Van Halen, and Whitesnake managed the balancing act between pop and rock music. Guns N’ Roses was particularly successful, captivating the world with songs like “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child of Mine.”

Heavy metal bands experienced one of their best phases in the 80s. Iron Maiden, Motörhead, or Metallica made it into the charts with some songs and thus provided musical variety.

The following 150 songs are from rock music and related subgenres. These songs have been chosen for their initial and ongoing popularity and their influence and impact on the development of rock and its subgenres.

(At the end of the article, we have created a Spotify playlist for you with all the songs listed here.)

The most successful rock songs of the 80s:

Each song is linked via the title with the associated music video.

№:	Listen:	Performer:
1.	Jump	Van Halen
2.	The Flame	Cheap Trick
3.	Don’t Stop Believin’	Journey
4.	Money For Nothing	Dire Straits
5.	Take on Me	a-ha
6.	Welcome to the Jungle	Guns N Roses
7.	Karma Chameleon	Culture Club
8.	Another One Bites the Dust	Queen
9.	When Doves Cry	Prince
10.	Beat It	Michael Jackson
11.	Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2	Pink Floyd
12.	One	Metallica
13.	Every Breath You Take	The Police
14.	Sharp Dressed Man	ZZ Top
15.	Sweet Child O’ Mine	Guns N’ Roses
16.	Here I Go Again	Whitesnake
17.	Tom Sawyer	Rush
18.	Hallowed Be Thy Name	Iron Maiden
19.	The Final Countdown	Europe
20.	Straight to Hell	The Clash
21.	Shot in the Dark	Ozzy Osbourne
22.	Sexual Healing	Marvin Gaye
23.	Breaking the Law	Judas Priest
24.	Heaven	Warrant
25.	Tainted Love	Soft Cell
26.	Alone	Heart
27.	Fast Car	Tracy Chapman
28.	Rock You Like a Hurricane	Scorpions
29.	I Love It Loud	Kiss
30.	Livin’ On a Prayer	Bon Jovi
31.	House of Fun	Madness
32.	Big City Nights	Scorpions	—
33.	I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll	Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
34.	Where the Streets Have No Name	U2
35.	People are People	Depeche Mode
36.	Back In Black	AC/DC
37.	Way Cool Jr.	Ratt
38.	Master of Puppets	Metallica
39.	Every Rose Has It’s Thorn	Poison
40.	Too Young To Fall In Love	Mötley Crüe
41.	So Lonely	The Police
42.	Eye of the Tiger	Survivor
43.	Cold Blood	Kix
44.	Jessie’s Girl	Rick Springfield
45.	Sweet Dreams	Eurythmics
46.	Should I Stay or Should I Go	The Clash
47.	I Don’t Remember	Peter Gabriel
48.	Don’t You Want Me?	The Human League
49.	Carrie	Europe
50.	When the Children Cry	White Lion
51.	You Shook Me All Night Long	AC/DC
52.	Like a Virgin	Madonna
53.	Run to the Hills	Iron Maiden
54.	Nothin’ But A Good Time	Poison
55.	I’ll Be You	The Replacements
56.	Rock the Casbah	The Clash
57.	Ace of Spades	Motorhead
58.	Pour Some Sugar on Me	Def Leppard
59.	Round and Round	Ratt
60.	Living After Midnight	Judas Priest
61.	Call Me	Blondie
62.	You’ve Got Another Thing Coming	Judas Priest
63.	You Give Love A Bad Name	Bon Jovi
64.	When It’s Love	Van Halen
65.	We’re Not Gonna Take It	Twisted Sister
66.	Angel of Harlem	U2
67.	Crazy Train	Ozzy Osbourne
68.	Dreams	Van Halen
69.	Patience	Guns N’ Roses
70.	Cum on Feel the Noize	Quiet Riot
71.	Call Me	Blondie
72.	Wanted Dead or Alive	Bon Jovi
73.	Once Bitten, Twice Shy	Great White
74.	Talk Dirty To Me	Poison
75.	Runaway	Bon Jovi
76.	My Girl	Madness
77.	I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For	U2
78.	Every Little Thing She Does is Magic	The Police
79.	Panama	Van Halen
80.	Never Surrender	Corey Hart
81.	Back For More	Ratt
82.	Rapture	Blondie
83.	Photograph	Def Leppard
84.	Unchained	Van Halen
85.	Wait	White Lion
86.	Seventeen	Winger
87.	Boys Don’t Cry	The Cure
88.	Is This Love	Whitesnake
89.	Why Can’t This Be Love	Van Halen
90.	18 & Life	Skid Row
91.	West End Girls	Pet Shop Boys
92.	Sister Christian	Night Ranger
93.	Metal Health (Bang Your Head)	Quiet Riot
94.	Our House	Madness
95.	Dr. Feelgood	Mötley Crüe
96.	The Number Of The Beast	Iron Maiden
97.	No One Like You	The Scorpions
98.	Against the Wind	Bob Seger
99.	Armageddon It	Def Leppard
100.	Don’t Believe in Love	Queensryche
101.	For Those About to Rock	AC/DC
102.	Edge of a Broken Heart	Bon Jovi
103.	Bringin’ on the Heartbreak	Def Leppard
104.	I Want A Woman	Ratt
105	Red Rain	Peter Gabriel
106..	The Magnificent Seven	The Clash
107.	Paradise City	Guns N’ Roses
108.	In Your Eyes	Peter Gabriel
109.	Pride (In the Name of Love)	U2
110.	I Wanna Rock	Twisted Sister
111.	Heading Out to the Highway	Judas Priest
112.	Still of the Night	Whitesnake
113.	Love Will Tear Us Apart	Joy Division
114.	Love Song	Tesla
115.	The Search is Over	Survivor
116.	Waiting Room	Fugazi
117.	Dear God	XTC
118.	Fallen Angel	Poison
119.	Alone Again	Dokken
120.	Down Boys	Warrant
121.	I Can’t Drive 55	Sammy Hagar
122.	Bad Medicine	Bon Jovi
123.	Born to Be My Baby	Bon Jovi
124.	Girls Just Wanna Have Fun	Cyndi Lauper
125.	Superstitious	Europe
126.	Shout At The Devil	Mötley Crüe
127.	Don’t Close Your Eyes	Kix
128.	Headed for a Heartbreak	Winger
129.	Don’t Change	INXS
130.	Born In the U.S.A.	Bruce Springsteen
131.	Physical	Olivia Newton-John
132.	Cult of Personality	Living Colour
133.	Start Me Up	Rolling Stones
134.	Hells Bells	AC/DC
135.	Let’s Go Crazy	Prince
136.	Rock of Ages	Def Leppard
137.	Personal Jesus	Depeche Mode
138.	Luka	Suzanne Vega
139.	Faithfully	Journey
140.	Love Shack	B-52’s
141.	Rainbow in the Dark	Dio
142.	Purple Rain	Prince
143.	Save Your Love	Great White
144.	Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?	Culture Club
145.	Day by Day	The Hooters
146.	Shake Me	Cinderella
147.	Modern Love	David Bowie
148.	Nobody’s Fool	Cinderella
149.	And We Danced	Hooters
150.	Animal	Def Leppard