page_title: 1980s in music
section_title: Pop
hierarchical_section_title: 1980s in music / North America / Pop
caption_attribution_description: English: Madonna, Rotterdam, August 26, 1987
context_page_description: The 1980s saw the emergence of dance music and new wave. As disco 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 in the United States and worldwide.
  The 1980s are commonly remembered for an 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.
context_section_description: The 1980s saw the reinvention of Michael Jackson, the worldwide superstardom of Prince, and the national emergence of Madonna and Whitney Houston, who were all among the most successful musicians during this time.
  Michael Jackson, along 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. 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 that any other act 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 most successful female 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 artform. Many of her songs topped charts around the world, such as: "Like a Virgin", "Papa Don't Preach", "La Isla Bonita" and "Like a Prayer". After the Like a Prayer album in 1989, Madonna was named artist of the decade by a number of magazines and awards.  "I thought the Eighties was fabulous," she said, "and I'm sure Boy George would agree with me."
  Whitney Houston was one of the best selling female artists of the decade in the US, behind Madonna and Barbra Streisand. Her eponymous debut studio album was the best-selling debut album by a female artist at the time, and her sophomore album, Whitney, the first by a female 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.
  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, New Edition, Stacey Q, The Bangles, New Kids on the Block, Laura Branigan, Boy George and others becoming teen idols.
  Prominent American urban pop acts of the 1980s include Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston 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 the decade's most prolific artist, not just by virtue of being the top charting artist in the US and worldwide. 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 song "The Glamorous Life" and number 11 "A Love Bizarre"; and Wendy & Lisa and Apollonia 6. He wrote "I Feel for You" for Chaka Khan, which won him a Grammy for best R&B song; "Sugar Walls" for Sheena Easton; and as well as doing a duet w
caption: Madonna's[1] music videos were a permanent fixture on MTV in the 1980s, and she has since become one of the most successful female singers of all time.
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