1980s Music Quiz: MTV, Madonna, Prince, Live Aid and More

This 1980s music quiz goes back to the decade of MTV, with questions on Madonna, Prince, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Live Aid, Whitney Houston, Culture Club and a-ha. Ten questions, 90 seconds, and every answer explained.

Start 1980s Music Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 90s

Pop
Which singer released the album Like a Virgin in 1984?
Television
Which TV channel launched in 1981 to play music videos around the clock?
Film
Which artist starred in the 1984 film Purple Rain?
Rock
Which Irish band released The Joshua Tree in 1987?
Rock
Which 1984 Bruce Springsteen album shows an American flag on its cover?
Events
Which 1985 concert in London and Philadelphia raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia?
Records
Which singer had a record seven consecutive U.S. number-one singles in the 1980s?
New Wave
Which British band was fronted by Boy George?
Videos
Which Norwegian band's 1985 video famously mixed live action with pencil-sketch animation?
Duos
George Michael was one half of which pop duo?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which singer released the album Like a Virgin in 1984?
Answer: Madonna
Like a Virgin was Madonna's second album and her first to top the Billboard 200. Her performance of the title song at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 is still talked about.
Q2: Which TV channel launched in 1981 to play music videos around the clock?
Answer: MTV
MTV launched on August 1, 1981, and quickly changed how artists were promoted. Looking good on camera became almost as important as sounding good on the radio.
Q3: Which artist starred in the 1984 film Purple Rain?
Answer: Prince
Prince wrote and performed the soundtrack and won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score. The Purple Rain album spent 24 weeks at number one.
Q4: Which Irish band released The Joshua Tree in 1987?
Answer: U2
The Joshua Tree won the Grammy for Album of the Year and made U2 one of the biggest bands in the world. It was named after a tree found in the deserts of the American Southwest.
Q5: Which 1984 Bruce Springsteen album shows an American flag on its cover?
Answer: Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A. produced seven top-10 singles in the U.S. Its title song is often misread as patriotic, but it tells the story of a struggling Vietnam War veteran.
Q6: Which 1985 concert in London and Philadelphia raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia?
Answer: Live Aid
Live Aid was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure on July 13, 1985, and was watched by an estimated 1.5 billion people. Queen's set at Wembley Stadium is the most famous moment.
Q7: Which singer had a record seven consecutive U.S. number-one singles in the 1980s?
Answer: Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston's seven straight number ones ran from 1985 to 1988, beating the record of six held jointly by the Beatles and the Bee Gees.
Q8: Which British band was fronted by Boy George?
Answer: Culture Club
Culture Club's colorful style made Boy George one of the most recognizable stars of the decade. Duran Duran was their biggest rival among British pop acts of the same era.
Q9: Which Norwegian band's 1985 video famously mixed live action with pencil-sketch animation?
Answer: a-ha
a-ha's video for Take On Me won six MTV Video Music Awards in 1986. Europe and Roxette were both Swedish bands that also scored worldwide hits in the 1980s.
Q10: George Michael was one half of which pop duo?
Answer: Wham!
George Michael formed Wham! with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley. In 1985 Wham! became one of the first Western pop groups to perform in China.

1980s Music Quiz – The Decade of MTV and Big Hair

The 1980s changed the music business forever. When MTV switched on in 1981, songs suddenly needed videos, and artists became visual stars as much as voices. Bright costumes, big hair, synthesizers and dramatic music videos defined the decade, and many of its hits are still played on radio and at parties today.

Pop music was ruled by a handful of superstars. Madonna kept reinventing her image, Michael Jackson broke sales records with Thriller and Whitney Houston became one of the greatest voices of all time. Prince blended funk, rock and pop and starred in his own film, Purple Rain.

Rock had its own giants. Bruce Springsteen sang about working-class America, U2 grew from a Dublin school band into a stadium act and hair-metal bands filled arenas with power ballads. Meanwhile, new wave and synth-pop acts like Culture Club, Duran Duran and a-ha brought a fresh, electronic sound from Europe.

The decade also showed that music could change the world. Live Aid in 1985 raised millions for famine relief and was broadcast to a huge global audience, setting the model for charity concerts that followed.

This quiz covers the stars, songs, videos and events that made the 1980s one of the most colorful decades in pop history.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz is made for 80s kids, classic hits fans and younger listeners discovering the decade for the first time.

How MTV changed the music industry
Key albums from Madonna, Prince, U2 and Bruce Springsteen
What Live Aid was and who organized it
Whitney Houston's record run of number ones
The British and Scandinavian acts that ruled the charts
Which famous music video used pencil-sketch animation

Quick Facts About 1980s Music

The compact disc went on sale in 1982, and the first CD pressed was ABBA's The Visitors.
Sony's Walkman made it possible to carry music everywhere for the first time.
Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet was the best-selling album of 1987 in the U.S.
Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? was recorded in a single day in November 1984.
Hip-hop entered the mainstream with Run-DMC's collaboration with Aerosmith in 1986.
Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual made her the first woman to score four top-five hits from a debut album.