Hi, P-assengers! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Lately, 80s trends have been coming back. Especially in the past few years. Trends like the mullet hair, shoulder pads, jean jackets have been re-trending these days, haven’t they? What’s also coming back are 80s style music like BTS’s Dynamite, Troye Sivan’s Easy, and a few others.
That being said, we’re now going to list off singers and bands from the 80s that were cool then, and are still definitely cool now. Thank us later!
Michael Jackson
Now, how could we start this list without the King of Pop? Michael Jackson was born in August 29th,1958 in Gary, Indiana to parents Joseph Jackson and Katherine Esther Scruse. He was the 7th of 9 children. He first debuted with the group “The Jackson 5” with his brothers. They were all children then. The Jackson 5 was active from 1966-1989. They kept releasing songs even after MJ himself left the band.
Michael released his solo album “Got to Be There” in 1972. “Thriller” became his best-selling album then. He popularized many dance choreographies such as the legendary Moonwalk in 1983, the dance choreography to his song, Billie Jean.
Before he died, Michael had his last tour titled “This is It.” It was planned for July 13th to March 6th 2009. It was cancelled due to his death in July 25th, 2009. His last album, “This is It” was released in October 26th 2009.
Nirvana
Now, you must have heard of this band before, even if you never really listened to any of their songs. How could you not? They were very popular and is still cool even until today. They started off in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987 and was characterized by their punk aesthetic. It was founded by lead singer-songwriter and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novolesic. They eventually recruited Dave Grohl as their drummer in 1990.
Nirvana first released their first single, a cover of Shocking Blue’s “Love Buzz” in 1988. Their bestselling album was titled Nevermind, released in 1992, with one of the songs titled Smells Like Teen Spirit becoming one of their most famous songs.
Their third and final studio album was titled In Utero, released in 1993, which was again a huge success and lead to them having their first tour in America. Sadly, they broke up in 1994 after their European tour due to the death of their lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain.
Queen
The legend themselves. Queen, the band, was formed in 1970 in London. The members were Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Brian May, and Roger Taylor. They released their debut album titled “Queen” in 1973, but first charted in the UK with their second album “Queen II.” Their international success was brought through the release of “A Night at the Opera,” one of their greatest albums which contained the legendary song, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
From then on, Queen kept releasing hits after hits, such as “We Will Rock You”, “We are the Champions”, “Another One Bites the Dust” and many more. They performed in the Live Aid, held at Wembley on 13 July 1985, which became one of their many most famous love performances.
Their lead singer, Freddie Mercury, died in 1991 due to a complication of AIDS. The band still performs to this day with vocalists Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert.
Prince
Not putting Prince on this list with Michael Jackson in it felt like a crime, honestly. Born Prince Roger Nelson on June 7, 1958, Prince (later the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, and then called the Artist) was a famous American singer-songwriter and was regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation.
He played a wide range of musical instruments, created around 500 to 1000 songs for himself and other artists under many pseudonyms, wrote songs in a wide variety of genres, and released a total number of 39 albums during his life. Some says that there are many unreleased songs and music videos in his vault, still unopened after his death.
Prince started recording with Warner Bros. Records at age 19. “Little Red Corvette” became his first big hit, released in 1983. “Purple Rain” was released in 1984, which then made him one of the major stars in the 80s and remains his bestselling album. He kept releasing many hit albums, like “Sign ‘O’ the Times” and the Batman 1989 soundtrack. He died on April 21, 2016 due to an accidental drug overdose.
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston was born in New Jersey on August 9 1963. She was certified as Most Awarded Female Artist of All Time by the Guinness World Records, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. She first recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass titled “Hold Me”, which was released in 1984 and quickly became a Top 5 R&B hit.
Her debut album, “Whitney Houston” was released in 1985. It started her very promising career, gaining praises from left and right. She released many hits after that, namely “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”, “I Will Always Love You”, “The Greatest Love”, and “My Love is Your Love”. Her last song, “Celebrate”, was released in 2012. Whitney died from accidental drowning in the same year.
How about that, folks? There are many more singers other than the ones on this list such as Madonna, Elton John, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, and many more—to which, all of them were just as legendary. We sure do hope that you enjoyed this small article. Have a nice day, P-assangers! See you at our next article!