The 1980s were supposed to be the decade of the new.
MTV was exploding. Synthesizers were everywhere. New wave, punk, hip-hop, hair metal and glossy pop were pushing older styles of rock and pop further toward the rearview mirror. Record companies were obsessed with finding the next big thing, and suddenly a musician who had been famous in 1968 could look positively ancient by 1983.
Then something strange happened.
A bunch of those supposedly washed-up artists came roaring back.
Some had never really gone away. Others had spent years struggling to find an audience. A few had broken up entirely. Some had become nostalgia acts before nostalgia was even a viable business model. And a handful were considered so hopelessly out of step with the times that nobody could have predicted another hit.
Yet the ’80s gave them another shot.
Sometimes MTV was responsible. Sometimes it was a great song. Sometimes it was a new generation discovering an old artist. Sometimes a musician simply stumbled into exactly the sound radio wanted at that particular moment.
And sometimes the comeback was so bizarre that you could have written the story before it happened and nobody would have believed you.
The decade produced everything from Tina Turner’s complete reinvention to The Beach Boys suddenly landing a No. 1 hit nearly 25 years after their first major success. George Harrison became an MTV star. Roy Orbison returned to the spotlight shortly before his death. The Monkees came back because MTV started showing their old television series. Even Yes, a band that seemed about as far away from mainstream pop as you could possibly get, somehow reinvented itself as an MTV powerhouse.
Here are 20 of the best examples.
1. Aerosmith — “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” and “Angel”
Aerosmith’s comeback might be the greatest of them all because, for a while, it genuinely looked like their career was finished.
The band had been enormous in the 1970s. They had hits, albums, a distinctive image and one of the biggest frontmen in rock. But by the early 1980s, Aerosmith was in terrible shape. Drug problems, internal conflicts and years of excess had taken their toll.
Then came the MTV era.
Aerosmith got sober, repaired some of the damage within the band and began working their way back into the public consciousness. The crucial turning point came with Permanent Vacation in 1987.
Suddenly Aerosmith was everywhere again.
“Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” gave them an instantly recognizable MTV hit, while “Angel” demonstrated that the band could also embrace the enormous power-ballad trend without completely losing its identity.
The transformation was remarkable. Aerosmith had gone from being a troubled ’70s relic to a commercially viable ’80s rock band.
And they weren’t finished.
The next album, Pump, would make the comeback even bigger.
Aerosmith didn’t merely return. They extended their career by decades.
2. Tina Turner — “What’s Love Got to Do with It”
Tina Turner’s comeback was on another level.
She had already been famous for years as part of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, but her personal and professional life had become increasingly difficult. Her solo career initially struggled to establish the kind of commercial momentum she wanted.
Then came 1984.
Turner released Private Dancer, and suddenly the woman who had been performing professionally since the 1950s was one of the biggest stars in the world.
“What’s Love Got to Do with It” became the defining song of the comeback.
It wasn’t merely a hit. It completely changed the way the public viewed Turner. Her image, voice, stage presence and determination fit perfectly into the MTV era.
She wasn’t trying to recreate the 1960s.
She reinvented herself.
The fact that Turner was already in her forties when this happened made the story even more remarkable. The music industry has always been obsessed with youth, yet Tina Turner became one of the decade’s biggest stars at an age when many record executives would have considered a new artist commercially impossible.
Her comeback remains one of the most extraordinary second acts in popular music.
3. Heart — “These Dreams”
Heart had already been successful in the 1970s, but their story in the 1980s was essentially a complete makeover.
The Wilson sisters had built a reputation around hard rock, acoustic guitars and a sound that could move between Led Zeppelin-style heaviness and folk-influenced songwriting.
Then the 1980s happened.
Heart’s commercial fortunes declined, but instead of simply fading away, the band reinvented itself.
The 1985 album Heart was enormous.
“These Dreams” became a massive hit, and suddenly Heart sounded completely at home alongside the polished pop-rock dominating radio.
What made the comeback particularly interesting was that Heart didn’t abandon its musical identity entirely. Ann Wilson could still absolutely unleash that incredible voice. Nancy Wilson remained an important part of the band’s musical personality.
They simply adapted.
The result was a band that had one successful career in the 1970s and another, completely different successful career in the 1980s.
4. The Kinks — “Come Dancing”
The Kinks are one of the great examples of a band that was always more successful in Britain than America but somehow managed to pull off a late American comeback.
Ray Davies had been writing clever, distinctive songs since the 1960s. The Kinks had already produced classics like “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night,” “Lola” and countless others.
But by the early 1980s, they were hardly considered cutting-edge.
Then came “Come Dancing.”
Released in 1982, the song became a major American hit in 1983.
It was almost hilariously appropriate. The song itself was nostalgic, looking backward at an older generation while being packaged in a way that worked perfectly for early-’80s audiences.
MTV helped enormously.
Suddenly Ray Davies was back on television, and a band that had been around since the British Invasion was competing for attention with artists half their age.
It was not a complete reinvention like Tina Turner.
It was something more charming: The Kinks simply found a new generation willing to embrace what they had always done.
5. The Beach Boys — “Kokomo”
If somebody had predicted in 1964 that The Beach Boys would score their first U.S. No. 1 single in 1988, it would have sounded ridiculous.
Yet that’s exactly what happened.
“Kokomo” came from the soundtrack to Cocktail and became an enormous hit.
The song was almost comically different from the adventurous music Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys had produced during their artistic peak.
But that’s precisely why it worked.
It was pure late-’80s escapism.
Tropical imagery, smooth production and an instantly memorable chorus made “Kokomo” a perfect soundtrack for the era.
The Beach Boys had gone from defining the sound of American youth culture in the 1960s to being considered a legacy act, and then suddenly they had another No. 1.
It wasn’t necessarily the comeback anyone expected.
But it was enormous.
And perhaps the strangest thing about “Kokomo” is that it introduced The Beach Boys to people who weren’t even alive when “Good Vibrations” was released.
6. Roy Orbison — “You Got It”
Roy Orbison’s comeback is one of the most bittersweet stories on this list.
Orbison had been one of the most distinctive stars of the early rock era. His voice was unmistakable, his songs were dramatic and his image was completely his own.
But his commercial career declined dramatically during the 1970s.
Then the 1980s arrived, and suddenly people started rediscovering him.
His involvement with The Traveling Wilburys gave him enormous exposure alongside George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.
Then Orbison recorded Mystery Girl.
“You Got It” became a major hit in 1989.
The song sounded contemporary without trying to disguise Orbison’s identity. His voice was still unmistakable, but the production gave him a modern setting.
There was just one terrible twist.
Orbison died suddenly in December 1988, before Mystery Girl was released.
He therefore became a charting star again after his death.
It was a comeback that arrived far too late.
7. George Harrison — “Got My Mind Set on You”
George Harrison had spent much of the late 1970s and early 1980s deliberately avoiding the spotlight.
He had already been a Beatle. He had made acclaimed solo records. He had produced films and worked on other projects.
He didn’t exactly need another hit.
Then, in 1987, Harrison released Cloud Nine.
“Got My Mind Set on You” became a gigantic hit.
The song was a bizarre choice for a former Beatle. It wasn’t a Harrison composition at all; it was a cover of an older song originally recorded by James Ray.
But Harrison’s version was irresistible.
The accompanying video also played perfectly into the MTV era.
Suddenly George Harrison was back on MTV, back on pop radio and back in the charts.
It was a genuine second act for a musician who had already been part of the biggest band in history.
8. Yes — “Owner of a Lonely Heart”
Yes might be the most astonishing musical reinvention on this list.
The Yes of the 1970s was synonymous with progressive rock: long songs, complex arrangements, virtuoso musicianship and album-oriented listening.
Then the band broke apart.
When Yes returned in the 1980s, they sounded radically different.
90125 arrived in 1983, and “Owner of a Lonely Heart” became a massive hit.
Suddenly Yes had a funky guitar riff, modern production, MTV exposure and a compact radio-friendly single.
This wasn’t the Yes of Close to the Edge.
It was Yes adapted for the MTV generation.
And it worked spectacularly.
“Owner of a Lonely Heart” became the band’s first and only No. 1 single in the United States.
For a band whose music had once been considered almost impossibly complicated for mainstream radio, that was quite an achievement.
9. Deep Purple — “Perfect Strangers”
Deep Purple didn’t exactly need a comeback. They had already been one of the biggest hard-rock bands in the world.
But their classic lineup had broken apart, and by the early 1980s the idea of a reunion seemed almost impossible.
Then it happened.
The classic Mark II lineup reunited in 1984.
The result was Perfect Strangers.
The title track became a major hard-rock staple, and the album demonstrated that Deep Purple could still sound powerful without pretending to be a new band.
There were no synthesizer-driven attempts to become Duran Duran.
There was no desperate attempt to chase the pop charts.
They simply played hard rock.
And audiences showed up.
For a band that had been active during the psychedelic and progressive-rock eras, returning successfully in the MTV age was a considerable accomplishment.
10. Cheap Trick — “The Flame”
Cheap Trick’s story is slightly different because they never completely disappeared.
They had already established themselves as one of the best live rock bands of the late 1970s. But their commercial momentum faded during the early 1980s.
Then came Lap of Luxury in 1988.
“The Flame” changed everything.
It was a massive power ballad and a No. 1 hit.
For a band associated with energetic guitar rock, Rick Nielsen’s eccentric personality and the legendary live album Cheap Trick at Budokan, “The Flame” was a surprising direction.
But it worked.
Suddenly Cheap Trick had a massive radio hit at the end of the decade.
It also introduced them to a new generation of fans.
The interesting thing is that Cheap Trick didn’t abandon their identity. They simply added a commercially accessible song to a catalog that already had plenty of personality.
Sometimes a comeback doesn’t require reinventing yourself.
Sometimes you just need the right song at the right time.
11. The Monkees — “That Was Then, This Is Now”
The Monkees had an advantage that most of the other artists on this list didn’t have.
MTV.
When MTV began showing reruns of The Monkees television series, an entire new generation discovered the band.
Kids who weren’t even born when The Monkees were originally on television suddenly thought they were cool.
That led to a reunion and a new single, “That Was Then, This Is Now,” in 1986.
The song became a legitimate hit.
It was one of the purest examples of nostalgia creating a comeback before nostalgia became a multibillion-dollar entertainment industry.
The Monkees were suddenly everywhere again.
And the whole thing was driven largely by young people discovering an old television show.
That’s one of the things that made the 1980s such an interesting decade for older artists. MTV wasn’t just promoting new music. It was also giving old music a visual platform.
12. The Steve Miller Band — “Abracadabra”
Steve Miller had already enjoyed a remarkable run of success in the 1970s.
“Jet Airliner.”
“The Joker.”
“Fly Like an Eagle.”
“Take the Money and Run.”
“Rock’n Me.”
He had nothing left to prove.
Then, in 1982, he released “Abracadabra.”
The song became a No. 1 hit.
It was noticeably more polished and pop-oriented than Miller’s earlier work, but it still sounded like Steve Miller.
This is one of those comebacks that can get overlooked because Miller had never really disappeared.
But commercially, “Abracadabra” was a major late-career achievement.
It proved that an artist associated primarily with the 1970s could still produce a song that dominated early-’80s radio.
13. The Rolling Stones — “Start Me Up”
The Rolling Stones don’t fit neatly into the “washed-up band makes comeback” category because they were never truly washed up.
Still, “Start Me Up” represented another enormous commercial peak.
Released in 1981 on Tattoo You, the song became one of the defining rock singles of the decade.
The Stones were already legends.
The fact that they could release a song that became an essential part of early-’80s pop culture demonstrated just how durable the band had become.
“Start Me Up” also became a crucial MTV-era song.
The Stones weren’t trying to become a new-wave band.
They didn’t need to.
They simply remained the Rolling Stones and somehow still fit perfectly into the new decade.
14. The Pointer Sisters — “Jump (For My Love)”
The Pointer Sisters had been recording and performing since the early 1970s, and they already had a successful career.
But the 1980s transformed their profile.
“Jump (For My Love)” became one of their signature songs, with the polished production and explosive energy that defined the decade.
The group demonstrated that veteran performers could adapt to the changing pop landscape without becoming unrecognizable.
Their earlier work had drawn from R&B, soul, jazz and pop.
The 1980s simply turned up the commercial polish.
The result was another generation of fans.
15. Fleetwood Mac — “Hold Me”
Fleetwood Mac had perhaps the biggest album of the late 1970s with Rumours, so calling them a comeback act in the 1980s is technically unfair.
But their continued success was remarkable.
After the enormous pressure surrounding Tusk, the band returned with Mirage in 1982.
“Hold Me” became a major hit.
Fleetwood Mac could have been overwhelmed by the success of Rumours. Instead, they remained commercially relevant.
Their sound became more polished, more radio-friendly and increasingly compatible with the emerging MTV environment.
They weren’t coming back from obscurity.
They were proving that an older band could survive the transition into an entirely different musical decade.
16. Status Quo — “In the Army Now”
Status Quo is one of those bands Americans sometimes forget about because their success was much greater in Britain and Europe.
But their longevity is extraordinary.
They had been making records since the 1960s and were still producing major hits decades later.
“In the Army Now” arrived in 1986 and became one of their biggest international successes.
It demonstrated that a band could have an identity rooted in the 1970s while still finding a massive audience in the 1980s.
Status Quo didn’t need a radical reinvention.
They simply found a song that worked.
17. Starship — “We Built This City”
This one requires a family-tree diagram.
Jefferson Airplane became Jefferson Starship.
Jefferson Starship eventually became Starship.
Personnel changed.
The music changed.
The name changed.
But in 1985, Starship produced one of the biggest pop-rock hits of the decade.
“We Built This City” was enormous.
It was polished, glossy, heavily produced and tailor-made for the MTV era.
Whether you love it or hate it, you cannot deny that it was successful.
The song became a major hit and turned Starship into one of the most recognizable pop-rock acts of the decade.
The irony is that it was almost completely disconnected from the psychedelic San Francisco sound that had made Jefferson Airplane famous.
But that’s what makes it such a fascinating comeback.
The band didn’t return to its roots.
It ran as far away from them as possible.
18. The Doobie Brothers — “Real Love”
The Doobie Brothers had already enjoyed a huge run during the 1970s, particularly with Michael McDonald leading the band through its smoother, more R&B-influenced period.
The group broke up in 1982.
Then the reunion came.
“Real Love” arrived in the 1980s as part of the band’s return, and while it didn’t approach the scale of their biggest ’70s hits, it proved that the Doobies could still find an audience.
Their comeback was more about legacy and longevity than conquering the charts.
Still, it belongs in this discussion because the band had gone from being finished to being a viable touring and recording entity again.
19. Foghat — “Third Time Lucky”
Foghat’s story is one of the more modest comebacks here.
They had been a major hard-rock band in the 1970s, particularly after “Slow Ride” became a classic-rock staple.
But their commercial momentum faded.
Then, in 1980, they returned to the charts with “Third Time Lucky.”
It wasn’t another “Slow Ride.”
It didn’t suddenly turn Foghat into a massive MTV sensation.
But it was enough to demonstrate that their audience hadn’t completely disappeared.
Foghat is an excellent reminder that a comeback doesn’t necessarily mean returning to No. 1.
Sometimes it simply means getting another hit after everyone assumed you were finished.
20. Alice Cooper — “Poison”
Alice Cooper’s career had already gone through several lives by the time the 1980s arrived.
He had been one of the biggest shock-rock stars of the early 1970s, helped redefine the theatrical possibilities of rock concerts, and produced a string of classic albums and songs. But by the middle of the 1980s, Alice’s commercial fortunes had declined considerably. He was still a legendary name, but the hit-making machine had essentially disappeared.
Then came Trash in 1989.
The album completely changed the trajectory of his career again, and “Poison” was the song that made it happen.
Suddenly Alice Cooper was back on MTV, back on rock radio and back in the mainstream. “Poison” became one of his biggest solo hits and introduced Alice to an entirely new generation of fans who hadn’t been around for his original run.
What makes the comeback particularly impressive is that Alice didn’t abandon the theatrical personality that made him famous. He simply updated the sound around it.
The production was glossy and unmistakably late-’80s, the guitar work fit comfortably alongside the hair-metal bands dominating MTV, and Alice’s distinctive voice remained at the center of everything.
For a performer who had first become famous nearly two decades earlier, “Poison” was a remarkable second act.
It also proved that Alice Cooper didn’t need to become a completely different artist to have another hit. He just needed to find a way to make the Alice Cooper character relevant to a new generation.
And he succeeded.
By the time “Poison” became a major hit in 1989, Alice Cooper had gone from being a ’70s rock icon to something equally valuable in the MTV era: a veteran artist who could still compete with the younger bands taking over rock radio.
It was one of the decade’s best examples of an established artist finding a completely new audience without abandoning what made him famous in the first place.
Why the ’80s Were So Good to Old Bands
What made the 1980s different was the combination of nostalgia, technology and MTV.
Before MTV, an older artist could release a new song and hope radio programmers decided it belonged on the station.
MTV changed the equation.
Suddenly image mattered enormously.
A musician who had been famous twenty years earlier could suddenly become visually interesting again.
George Harrison could make a clever video.
The Monkees could have their television show revived.
The Kinks could make a video for “Come Dancing.”
Tina Turner could create an entirely new image.
Aerosmith could become MTV regulars.
Suddenly age wasn’t quite as much of a disadvantage.
In fact, being famous already could be an advantage.
Audiences knew who these people were.
They knew the songs.
They had memories attached to them.
And younger audiences could discover the catalog without having experienced the original era.
That created a fascinating feedback loop.
A new generation discovered an old artist.
That artist released something new.
The new material sent people back to the old catalog.
Suddenly a 20-year-old record could start selling again.
The record industry eventually figured out that nostalgia was extremely profitable.
And the artists figured out something else:
You didn’t necessarily have to retire just because your first career was over.
You could have a second one.
The Most Impressive Comebacks
If I had to rank the actual comeback stories, Tina Turner probably takes the top spot.
Her transformation was extraordinary.
Aerosmith would be right behind her because their comeback wasn’t simply commercial. They extended their career for another several decades.
Heart deserves enormous credit because they essentially had two separate periods of major success.
Yes deserves recognition for pulling off perhaps the strangest musical transformation. Going from progressive-rock epics to “Owner of a Lonely Heart” was almost absurd.
The Beach Boys deserve a special award for sheer improbability.
A No. 1 hit in 1988 from a band whose first major hits came in the early 1960s is difficult to top.
Roy Orbison’s comeback is perhaps the most emotional.
And The Monkees’ story might be the most entertaining because their resurrection was driven by an entirely new generation.
The Real Legacy of the ’80s Comeback
The most important thing these artists proved was that careers don’t necessarily have expiration dates.
Music history is full of artists who were declared finished only to come roaring back.
Sometimes the comeback comes from a great song.
Sometimes it comes from a new producer.
Sometimes it comes from a reunion.
Sometimes it comes from MTV putting an old television show back into rotation.
Sometimes it comes from an artist simply finding the right moment.
The 1980s were particularly good at creating those moments.
That’s why the decade is filled with these wonderfully strange stories.
The Beach Boys scoring a No. 1 hit.
George Harrison suddenly becoming a pop star again.
Roy Orbison returning to the charts after years of commercial decline.
The Monkees being rediscovered by kids who weren’t even alive when the group originally existed.
Yes becoming MTV stars.
Deep Purple reuniting.
Aerosmith escaping the wreckage of the 1970s.
Tina Turner completely reinventing herself.
And Starship turning the Jefferson Airplane legacy into something almost completely different.
Some of these comebacks were artistically brilliant.
Some were commercial miracles.
Some were questionable.
Some produced songs that have aged beautifully.
Others produced songs that have become guilty pleasures.
But they all demonstrated the same thing:
You can never completely count an old artist out.
The 1980s were supposed to belong to the new generation.
Instead, some of the people who had already had their moment came back and stole the decade right out from underneath them.
And that’s one of the reasons the ’80s remain such a fascinating period in music history.