' opacity='.22'/%3E%3Cpath d='M112 199 184 91l38 111-38 75-72-78Zm288 0L328 91l-38 111 38 75 72-78Z' fill='url(%23fox)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M112 220c33-78 88-113 144-113s111 35 144 113c-13 116-71 178-144 178s-131-62-144-178Z' fill='url(%23fox)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M166 264c30 23 60 34 90 34s60-11 90-34c-9 66-44 102-90 102s-81-36-90-102Z' fill='%23fff4df'/%3E%3Cpath d='M226 280h60l-30 32-30-32Z' fill='%23141218'/%3E%3Ccircle cx='201' cy='239' r='14' fill='%23101016'/%3E%3Ccircle cx='311' cy='239' r='14' fill='%23101016'/%3E%3Cpath d='M330 137v145c-9-4-22-4-34 0-29 10-47 36-39 59 8 24 37 35 66 25 22-7 36-26 36-48V184l61-13v70c-8-3-19-3-30 0-28 10-45 35-38 58 8 24 37 35 66 25 22-7 36-26 36-48V111l-124 26Z' fill='%23f7f2ff'/%3E%3Cpath d='M90 393c41 39 96 59 166 59s125-20 166-59' fill='none' stroke='%2373f0ff' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-width='18'/%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=small}
Guide
Music quiz questions from the 80s – with answers
Here are twenty questions about the most-played songs of the 80s, with answers, ready to borrow straight for your own quiz. The questions come from Musikräven's verified 80s pool – the same songs played in 80s Music Quiz – so artists and years are checked against the charts, not pulled from memory.
Published · By Rickard Javanainen
How do you use the questions?
Read the question aloud, give twenty seconds, collect the answers. Want the song clips too – it is a music quiz, after all – the whole list is ready to play below: the fox plays the clip, marks it and tallies the score, and you don't have to hold both the questions and the answers.
The level is familiar: most people recognise 80s choruses even without having lived through it. Mix in a question or two from the 90s if the crowd is mixed.
Why is the 80s the best quiz decade?
The synths gave the songs intros you recognise in a second, MTV turned the artists into faces everyone had seen, and the radio played the same thirty songs for ten years. Europe, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Roxette and Madonna are the artists that come up most often in the pool, and just over one in five songs is Swedish – The Final Countdown and Joyride side by side with Thriller and Like a Prayer.
That makes the 80s the decade where the gap between generations is smallest: whoever was a teenager back then wins on the years, but the grandchildren know the choruses too.
20 questions with answers
Generated from the list's verified songs – artist and year are checked against the charts.
1Who is behind Billie Jean from 1982?
Answer: Michael Jackson.
2Which year did Whitney Houston release I Wanna Dance with Somebody?
Answer: 1987.
3Who is behind Take On Me from 1985?
Answer: a-ha.
4Which year did Michael Jackson release Thriller?
Answer: 1982.
5Who is behind Like a Prayer from 1989?
Answer: Madonna.
6Which year did Bon Jovi release Livin' on a Prayer?
Answer: 1986.
7Who is behind Master of Puppets from 1986?
Answer: Metallica.
8Which year did Guns N' Roses release Sweet Child o' Mine?
Answer: 1987.
9Who is behind Africa from 1982?
Answer: Toto.
10Which year did Journey release Don't Stop Believin'?
Answer: 1981.
11Who is behind Every Breath You Take from 1983?
Answer: The Police.
12Which year did Madonna release Like a Virgin?
Answer: 1984.
13Who is behind You Shook Me All Night Long from 1980?
Answer: AC/DC.
14Which year did Michael Jackson release Beat It?
Answer: 1982.
15Who is behind Careless Whisper from 1984?
Answer: George Michael.
16Which year did Survivor release Eye of the Tiger?
Answer: 1982.
17Who is behind Girls Just Want to Have Fun from 1983?
Answer: Cyndi Lauper.
18Which year did Wham! release Last Christmas?
Answer: 1984.
19Who is behind Never Gonna Give You Up from 1987?
Answer: Rick Astley.
20Which year did Metallica release One?
Answer: 1988.
Let the fox play the clips
Synths, hairspray and choruses you didn't know you remembered. The fox plays the clip, marks it and tallies the score – on your own on your phone or with the whole party around the big screen.