Do you know which artist was the most popular in the eighties? This is where the top music artists of the 80’s will help. The top artists of the eighties brought in some new artists during this decade like Madonna, Phil Collins, George Michael and Huey Lewis & The News, just to name a few and they all charted some great hits.
In this decade, there were a total of 231 songs that peaked at #1. The years of 1988 and 1989 both had 32 songs that peaked at #1. There were a total of 4,172 singles that hit the charts in this period. The year of 1980 had the most charted singles with 470. There were over 700 artists that charted a single in this era.
The song Tainted Love by Soft Cell in 1982, was on the chart for 43 weeks and takes the longevity title for this decade.
Ranking Of The Top 100 Artists
To determine the top 50 artists, we had to use a point system that would be fair to all artists that charted singles in this period. The point system used is as follows:
- The highest chart position reached on the Hot 100, Hot 100 Airplay or Bubbling Under charts.
- Point breakdown as follows:
- #1 = 100 points for its first week at #1, plus 10 points for each additional week.
- #2 = 90 points for its first week at #2, plus 5 points for each additional week.
- #3 = 80 points for its first week at #3, plus 3 points for each additional week.
- #4-5 = 70 points
- #6-10 = 60 points
- #11-15 = 50 points
- #16-20 = 45 points
- #21-30 = 40 points
- #31-40 = 35 points
- #41-50 = 30 points
- #51-60 = 25 points
- #61-70 = 20 points
- #71-90 = 15 points
- #91-100 = 10 points
- #101-110 = 5 points
- #111-120 = 4 points
- #121-135 = 3 points
Prince #2 Artist of the 80s
- Total weeks charted are added in.
- In case of a tie, the artist listed first is determined by the following tie-breaker rules:
- Most charted singles
- Most Top 40 singles
- Most Top 10 singles
When two artists combine for a hit single, such as Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, the full point total is given to both artists. Duos like Simon & Garfunkel and Hall & Oates are considered recording teams and their points are not shared.
Adjustment made for featured and lead artists. A featured artist on a single will receive 20% of the point total and the lead artist receives 100% of the point total.
The Top 50 Artists 1980-1989
The top three spots were close being separated by just 66 points with positions 2 & 3 only 5 point difference.
| Rank | Artist | Points |
| 1 | Michael Jackson | 2,080 |
| 2 | Prince | 2,019 |
| 3 | Madonna | 2,014 |
| 4 | Daryl Hall & John Oates | 1,891 |
| 5 | George Michael | 1,784 |
| 6 | Billy Joel | 1,566 |
| 7 | Lionel Richie | 1,555 |
| 8 | Phil Collins | 1,490 |
| 9 | John Couger Mellencamp | 1,434 |
| 10 | Elton John | 1,386 |
| 11 | Kool & The Gang | 1,379 |
| 12 | Kenny Rogers | 1,363 |
| 13 | Huey Lewis & The News | 1,358 |
| 14 | Whitney Houston | 1,245 |
| 15 | Stevie Wonder | 1,224 |
| 16 | Diana Ross | 1,216 |
| 17 | Duran Duran | 1,213 |
| 18 | Journey | 1,193 |
| 19 | Sheena Easton | 1,178 |
| 20 | Pointer Sisters | 1,151 |
| 21 | Chicago | 1,151 |
| 22 | Rick Springfield | 1,150 |
| 23 | Rod Stewart | 1,121 |
| 24 | Bon Jovi | 1,089 |
| 25 | Olivia Newton-John | 1,088 |
| 26 | Bruce Springsteen | 1,079 |
| 27 | Starship | 1,075 |
| 28 | Paul McCartney | 1,069 |
| 29 | Air Supply | 1,050 |
| 30 | Kenny Loggins | 1,046 |
| 31 | Bob Seger | 1,045 |
| 32 | Pat Benater | 1,027 |
| 33 | Cyndi Lauper | 1,014 |
| 34 | REO Speedwagon | 1,011 |
| 35 | Billy Ocean | 1,011 |
| 36 | Survior | 1,007 |
| 37 | Heart | 991 |
| 38 | Genesis | 980 |
| 39 | Tina Turner | 973 |
| 40 | Steve Winwood | 965 |
| 41 | Gloria Estefan | 949 |
| 42 | Kim Carnes | 936 |
| 43 | Van Halen | 930 |
| 44 | Culture Club | 899 |
| 45 | Janet Jackson | 896 |
| 46 | Donna Summer | 880 |
| 47 | Foreigner | 880 |
| 48 | Bryan Adams | 879 |
| 49 | The Rolling Stones | 834 |
| 50 | The Police | 827 |
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