Top 10 Greatest Artists and Bands of the 80s

Michael Jackson is the greatest and best music artist, philanthropist, humanitarian, and human being of all time and that ever lived. He is the King of Pop. I love him and I miss him so much always and forever. August 29th, 1958 - June 25th, 2009. Forever.

No single individual has had the impact that Michael Jackson has had on singers, dancers, producers, arrangers, and directors of live events. He set the benchmark - and then exceeded himself.

Michael is the greatest in any era. His music and stagecraft transcended the 80s and kept setting benchmarks in the 90s. Despite his death, This Is It did the same for the 21st century. Now that's longevity. That's greatness.

The most amazing band of the '80s AND of all time! Music that continues to touch audiences through each decade since!

Awesome band. Too many people have forgotten how great they are. Front singer Tony Hadley's voice is better than ever!

100% agree their music is as fresh today as it's always been. Best vocalist in the business! Great overall sound live.

One of the greatest groups of all time, not just of the '80s. Morten Harket's voice is absolutely amazing in its range and style. Songs like Out of Blue Comes Green, while never released as singles, could've cemented Pal Waaktaar's reputation as a great songwriter.

Unfortunately, being labelled a boy band and pigeonholed by the music industry damaged A-ha's chances to have their music heard and rated by a wider audience. Their reformation in the early 2000s gave the band new life, and their later music definitely rates as some of their best work.

They are an iconic band that was set apart from all the others. They are one of the most popular bands ever and have repeatedly created great songs. I've seen them, and they were astonishing!

Most of these bands either made it big in the 70s and weren't as great in the 80s, or are just plain overrated. Guns N' Roses might have had the UYI albums in the 90s, which were pretty great also (in fact, UYI2 is probably my favorite album by them), but they were an 80s band through and through.

Slash is an awesome guitarist, definitely my favorite. My favorite band ever.

Bon Jovi may not be number 1, but he should be right under Michael Jackson. A-ha only has one song that people actually remember - Take on Me. I admit it's a pretty good song, but Bon Jovi had way more hits than A-ha: Livin' On A Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive, Bad Medicine, and that's only their 80s hits!

Along with Queen, they ruled stadium anthems. It's incredible to listen to thousands at the same time singing Living on a Prayer or You Give Love a Bad Name.

They belong at number 1. They have done it all and kept smiles on people's faces while doing it.

I have always loved Queen and have been listening to them my whole life. I don't think Under Pressure is the song that everyone knows by Queen. I think the songs they are most known for are We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, and Bohemian Rhapsody. I even got to go to a concert this past summer in LA. I love how they wrote their songs. They just make me so happy and want to get up and dance!

Queen deserves this spot. They just never stopped making great songs (they have three greatest hits albums), not to mention they're practically a household name at this point.

But "Under Pressure" kills me. It's a great song, but for some reason, it's the only reason most people know Queen. "Hammer to Fall" is much better.

Any list that doesn't have Madonna as the number one artist is suspect. She was dominant from the beginning of the decade to the end. Unlike Michael, she progressed as an artist, surprising us at every turn. For me, it's 1. Madonna, 2. Prince (think of all the songs he wrote for others like Sinead O'Connor, The Bangles, and Sheena Easton), 3. Michael Jackson, 4. The Police.

The '80s without Madonna would have been like a hamburger without the meat!

No one makes music for the ages like her. She is the sound of the generations she has performed for and will be.

They're in a class by themselves. Well, metal, yes, of course, but we're talking '80s - not so much '80s, but they are loved.

They are the best. But this list is obviously biased towards metal.

What made Prince such a big deal and huge influence was that he was pretty much the right artist at the right time. He was basically the backlash to what was going on during the 80s, in which everything was overly produced, especially with the pop music that was mostly just super flashy, big dance numbers, and pretty much else that was mostly for cash-grabbing commercialism. Prince was the people's person trying to be genuine. He was trying to be about the music, not about the traditional music scene thing like, "Oh, look at this guy. He's got spotlights on him. This guy is like a god."

Van Halen has to be one of the greatest bands of all time. Eddie rocked on the guitar, Alex was awesome, Diamond Dave was one of the most entertaining lead singers ever, and they didn't start as a boy band put together by executives to make money. They just rocked it out.

This has to be one of my very favorite bands. If you just listen to their songs, you will be blown away by the talent in this band!

The talentless pop artists in the top ten will never be better than Van Halen.

Heart was very underrated, coming into a world dominated by male rockers where women were disco queens or dance artists. They blazed through the 70s, 80s, and 90s, leaving some great songs and guitar riffs.

What? AC/DC is one of the best bands ever, not to mention in the '80s. These guys should be first, with Rush second and Van Halen third.

These guys partied hard and knew how to rock and roll. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll is and was a lifestyle only a few people can survive.

Mötley Crüe should be in the top five bands of the '80s. Their music and style were unique, inspiring other bands to follow in their steps.

Best rock band to survive the '80s. Could have been much bigger but they were their own worst enemies.

I do believe there were better artists in the 80s, but Aerosmith isn't getting enough credit, especially for hanging on when they flopped in the music industry. They ended up making one of the hugest comebacks of the 20th century, topped only by Elvis. Most artists gave up when their music took a turn for the worse, and I respect Aerosmith because not only did they refuse to give up, but they also made some of the most classic rock songs of the 20th century in doing so.

They ruled in the '70s, but wait a minute! Aerosmith made fantastic music in the '80s too. Don't you like hits like "Janie's Got a Gun", "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Hangman Jury"? Come on, this band must be in the Top 10.

Extremely talented and a personal favorite of mine, Bryan Adams manages to pull off some lively, rocky songs, e.g., "She's Only Happy When She's Dancing," "Summer of '69," and "Can't Stop This Thing We Started." He can also pull off very relaxed, slower songs such as "Star," "Heaven," and "Everything I Do, I Do It for You." So, whatever mood I'm in, I can turn on some Bryan Adams and I won't be disappointed.

With such a repertoire of fine rock music and slow, romantic songs, Bryan Adams has stood out for me as the greatest musician of the 80s and of all time. Honorable mentions definitely go to Def Leppard, Whitesnake, and Bon Jovi.

He's called "The Boss" for a reason. He released numerous hits in the 80s and was always on the radio because he was as much a part of the 80s as Prince or Madonna.

The first time I saw him in concert in Barcelona, I was 14. Now at 42, I never get tired of going to his concerts whenever I can!

After the '60s (Beatles, Stones, etc.), Springsteen is the next biggest influence in rock music. In the '80s, he should rank number 1.

U2 made the biggest impact in the '80s and is still going strong. This list is a joke when Bono isn't ranked higher than Heart. He is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

U2 deserves number 1. Forget Michael Jackson, his contribution to music was nothing compared to U2's.

Presence and passion. This is not even close! Time magazine's Band of the Decade.

I think one of the reasons why Duran Duran deserves a high spot is because they were the right band at the right time. They were a part of the New Romantic movement, which was a backlash to the UK's Punk scene during the late 70s. In this scene, everything was about being aggressive, looking torn up, and "play as fast as you can!"

The New Romantic movement was society's way of trying to be more innovative, elegant, and flamboyant, like, "Hey, it's a couple of straight guys trying to look all glamorous and be more reinventive (like back in the early 70's Glam scene)." It was literally a backlash against Punk. The only difference is that Duran Duran were the top dogs of the movement. They brought that scene to the mainstream and adapted it to the MTV generation. People wanted it, people loved it. They fell in love with it, it changed a lot of people's hearts and minds, and that was partly the sound of the 80s.

How is Def Leppard not in the top 10? They're undisputedly my favorite band of all time, and they've had tons of hits. And yet, A-ha is in second place, even though the only song they have that could even compare to any Def Leppard song is Take on Me!

What the heck! You place one-hit wonders like Spandau Ballet and A-ha high on this list, while Def Leppard sits down here. Maybe they're both big overseas, but here, not so much.

Def Leppard is one of the greatest bands to rule the 80s. Everyone has heard a lot of their songs. Pyromania was one of the greatest albums of that decade!

In the '80s, Chithra was a new face, but she captured the music world with a single song.