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Madonna. Photo by chrisweger-

30 Most Talented 80s Female Singers

The 1980s saw an emergence of music innovation, such as a significant increase in digital recording use. At this time, many female singers emerged who are relevant today for their unique voices, top-charting songs, powerful lyrics, and electric performances. From Tina Turner to Whitney Houston to Madonna are some women who took the music scene in the 80s with hit songs and albums.

These females have sung different genres, from soul to R&B, pop to rock, cementing a lasting impact in the music industry, entertaining their fans, and inspiring other artists. This article will explore the 30 most talented 80s female singers for their incredible legacy.

1. Whitney Houston

Photo by PH2 Mark Kettenhofen-

First on the list is Whitney Houston, a best-selling music performer of the 1980s and throughout her career. She started her musical career as a child singing in church and as a background vocalist in high school. Whitney was well-known for her powerful, soulful singing as well as her vocal improvisation abilities.

She was the only artist in popular music history with seven straight number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. She also received six Grammy Awards, 28 Guinness World Records, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame entry, and other honors. Saving All My Love for You, Where Do Broken Hearts Go, and I Wanna Dance With Somebody are some of her most well-known songs.

Discover Top 10 Interesting Facts About Whitney Houston

2. Stevie Nicks

Photo by Ralph Arvesen-

Stevie Nicks is among the talented females of the 80s who influenced the rock scene. She began her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend, and in 1975 she joined the Fleetwood Mac band. While in the band, she experienced success, releasing eight solo studio albums and seven studio albums.

In 1981, Nicks embarked on a solo career, releasing remarkable solo projects such as the studio album, Bella Donna. Some of her hit songs include Stop Dragging Your Heart Around, Stand Back and Edge of Seventeen. She was also the first woman to have been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

3. Chaka Khan

Dubbed 鈥淨ueen of Funk,鈥� Chaka Khan has had a career spanning more than five decades. She was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper with I Feel for You in 1984. In 1980, Khan experienced solo success with hits like Through the Fire, This is My Night, Addicted To Love and Higher Love.

Throughout her career, she won ten Grammy Awards and Soul Train Awards and achieved three gold singles, three gold albums, and one platinum album. Additionally, she sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.

4. Madonna

Madonna. Photo by chrisweger-

Madonna Louise Ciccone is an American vocalist, songwriter, and actress born in 1958. Her music career was great, and she was dethroned as Queen of Pop. Her varied music incorporated political, social, religious, and sexual topics, which sparked debate and critical acclaim. Madonna’s popularity peaked in the 1980s with hits such as Like a Virgin, True Blue, and Like a Prayer. 

She has left a legacy in music creation, visual presentation, and songwriting for her constant reinvention and versatility. Madonna pushed the limits of artistic expression in mainstream music while maintaining her entire career. Despite this, she has sold over 300 million records globally, making her the most successful solo artist in Billboard history.

5. Sheena Easton

Sheena Easton is a Scottish singer and actress who rose to prominence in an episode of the British musical reality television series The Big Time: Pop Singer. Easton becomes one of the most successful British females recording artists of the 1980s with the release of singles Modern Girl and 9 to 5.

Between 1981 and 1991, she had Seven Top 10s and one number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. She has sold over 40 million records worldwide. Some of her other hits include, The Lover in Me, You Could Have Been With Me, The Arms of Orion, and What Comes Naturally.

Also read: Top 25 Most Popular Scottish Singers

6. Bonnie Tyler

She was born in 1951 in Skewen, Wales, and rose to prominence in 1977 with her husky vocals. In the 1980s, he broke into rock music with hit tracks like Total Eclipse of the Heart, Holding Out For a Hero, and It’s a Heartache. During the 1980s, her husky vocals captivated audiences. Bonnie took a risk.

7. Donna Summer

Donna Summer. Photo by Francesco Scavullo-

Legendary Donna Summer is among the influential 80s females. Dubbed 鈥淨ueen of Disco,鈥� she gained fame during the disco era in the 1970s, but she released many hits in the 80s, such as This Time I Know It鈥檚 for Real, Cold Love, Love is in Control and She Works Hard For the Money.

8. Grace Jones

Grace Jones was born in 1948 in Jamaica, but her family relocated to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones started her musical career in 1977 and transitioned to a new wave sound in the early 1980s that mixed pop, funk, reggae, and post-punk. With Pull Up to the Bumper, I’ve Seen That Face Before, and Slave to the Rhythm, she earned Top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart. She released well-liked records in the 1980s like Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing.

9. Lita Ford

Photo by Rob DiCaterino-

Lita Ford is an English-American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In the late 1970s, she was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band Runaways. Her success came in the late 1980s when she embarked on a solo career.

Her 1989 single Close My Eyes Forever remains Ford鈥檚 most successful song reaching No. 8 on the Us Billboard Hot 100.

10. Gloria Estefan

A Cuban-American Singer, Gloria Estefan gained international fame with success hit single Conga in 1985 and since then produced top charting songs and albums. She has sales of over 75 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female Latin artists of all time. Her hits include Don鈥檛 Wanna Lose You, Party Time, Bad Boy and Rhythm Is Gonna Get You.

11. Tina Turner

Photo by Tina Turner-

The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tina Turner, is a naturalized Swiss citizen who was born in America. Tuner started her music career in 1957 but altered her appearance and style around 1983. She achieved great success in the 1980s with her hit songs.

In 1988, during her Break, Every Rule World Tour, Tuner broke the previous record for the biggest paying audience for a solo performer. Tuner was listed among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, sold over 100 million records globally, and received 12 Grammy Awards.

Check out: Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Tina Turner

12. Belinda Carlisle

Photo by Andrew Hurley-

Carlisle is an American singer who gained notoriety as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go鈥檚 (an American rock band) and later experienced a successful solo career. With the band, they produced top-charting songs and albums. In 1981, with album Beauty and the Beat popularized new wave music in the United States.

In 1985, after the break-up of the Go-Go鈥檚, she embarked on a solo career producing hits such as Heaven Is a Place on Earth, Mad About You, Circle in the Sand, and Leave a Light on. As a member of Go-Go鈥檚, Carlisle received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

13. Annie Lennox

She is a singer and composer from Scotland. Lennox and fellow musician Dave Stewart succeeded worldwide as Eurythmics in the 1980s. In the 1980s, Eurythmics had several hit songs, including Here Comes the Rain Again, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), and Love Is A Stranger.

14. Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde is a singer and founding member, guitarist, lead singer, and primary songwriter of the Pretenders rock band. The band produced 80s hits, including Brass in Pocket, Back on the Chain Gang, My Baby and Don鈥檛 Get Me Wrong.

Her musical career continued to succeed in the 1990s, 2000s, and up to now. For her contribution to music, Hynde was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of the Pretenders.

15. Kate Bush

Kate Bush is an English singer, composer, and producer. With her debut song Wuthering Heights, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks at 19. She succeeded in the 1980s with songs such as The Whole Story, and all of her studio albums charted in the UK Top 10; however, the Never for Ever album (1980) and Hounds of Love (1985) charted at number one.

16. Sade Adu

Photo by Sade Adu-

Sade is a Nigerian-born British singer, the lead singer of her eponymous band, and one of the most successful British female artists in history. In the early 1980s, she gained modest recognition as a fashion designer and part-time model.

In the 1980s, she formed the band Sade and, in 1984, released the album Diamond Life, which became one of the best-selling albums of the era. Following the band’s third and fourth albums, Stronger Than Pride and Love Deluxe went on hiatus after the birth of Sade鈥檚 child. The band has had massive success producing top-charting songs and albums.

Discover Top 10 Fun Facts about Sade

17. Celine Dion

Photo by Anirudh Koul-

Celine is a vocalist from Canada. Her music includes classical, mainstream, rock, R&B, and gospel. With a run of French-language films in the 1980s, she became a teen star in her home country. She rose to worldwide prominence after winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest as Switzerland’s representative with Ne partez pas sans moi. Her 80s fame carried over into the other decades, making her a music business powerhouse.

18. Irene Cara

Irene Cara was a singer, actress, and songwriter. The 1980 musical Fame made her gain fame for her role as Coco Hernandez. Cara co-wrote and sang the song Flashdance鈥� What a Feeling in 1983, for which she won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1984.

From the 1980s, she went on to have success up to the 21st century, when she died. In March 2004, she received two honors with an induction into the Ciboney Caf茅鈥檚 Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award. 

19. Tracy Chapman

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American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman got her to start performing and writing songs in Boston. She released Tracy Chapman, her debut record, in 1988. It was a commercial success, was awarded three Grammys, and the Recording Industry Association of America certified it as 6x Platinum. Her most well-known songs are Fast Car and Give Me One Reason.

20. Joan Jett

Joan began his musical journey when she was fifteen by playing in the punk-pop group The Runaways. She is well-known for her cover of the 1982 single I Love n Roll, which spent seven weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Joan has been dubbed the “Queen of Rock n’ Roll” with three platinum or gold-certified records.

21. Sin茅ad O’Connor

Photo by Bryan Ledgard-

O鈥機onnor is an Irish singer known for her debut album, The Lion and the Cobra, in 1987, which charted internationally. Subsequently, her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven鈥檛 Got, became an immense success leading to her becoming one of the most prominent musicians of the 80s.

22. Pat Benatar

She is a singer who became rock’s top female vocalist in 1980 with the platinum-certified release of her second record, Crimes of Passion. She achieved great success in the 1980s with her albums and songs, propelling her to the top of the music world. Five platinum albums, 15 Billboard top 40 singles, two multi-platinum albums, and more than 35 million albums have all been sold globally by Benatar.

23. Kylie Minogue

Dubbed 鈥淧rincess of Pop” by the European Press, she is an Australian singer recognized for reinventing herself in music and fashion. Minogue rose to fame in the late 1980s and released four bubblegum and dance-pop-influenced studio albums. Her success continued throughout the 90s, and she is the highest-selling female Australian artist, with sales of over 80 million records worldwide.

24. Janet Jackson

Photo by Rich Esteban-

Janet Jackson is an American vocalist, songwriter, dancer, and actress who rose to prominence in the 1980s with two hit albums, Control, and Rhythm Nation. Her 1986 album Control established her as a musical icon. Her innovative music propelled her to the top of the pop business from the 1980s to the 1990s.

Discover 10 Remarkable Facts about Janet Jackson

25. Debbie Gibson

Gibson is a singer who gained fame in the 80s, with the release of the album Out of the Blue in 1987, she spawned international hits such as Foolish Beat. Subsequently, she released her second double-platinum, Electric Youth, in 1989 and became a bigger success. Gibson continued to release music throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

26. Diana Ross

Photo by Raph_PH-

She used to be the lead singer for the vocal ensemble the Supremes. In the 1980s, she succeeded internationally with tracks such as Endless Love, Upside Down, If We Stay Together, and Why Do Fools Fall in Love. Throughout the decade, Diana became a household figure, gaining mainstream success and recognition as an actor.

27. Jennifer Rush

She is a pop and rock singer who succeeded in the mid-1980s with several singles and albums, such as The Power of Love, a million-selling single in 1984. From that time, she remained successful in singing in English and Spanish.

28. Laura Branigan

Photo by UP Press Photos-

Laura Branigan was an American singer who enjoyed tremendous success in the 1980s. Her signature single, Gloria, in 1982, charted top on most music platforms. Some of her 80s hits include Miami Vice, The Lucky One, and Ti amo. Unfortunately, she retired from public life in the 1990s but returned to performing in the early 2000s.

Her music got renewed popularity, and public interest in 2019 in the United States after the NHL鈥檚 St. Louis Blues adopted Gloria as their unofficial victory song.

29. Cyndi Lauper

Photo by Philip Romano-

American vocalist Cyndi Lauper has been performing for more than 40 years. She became a cultural icon in the 1980s, enjoying enormous prosperity and popularity. She’s So Unusual was the first female artist’s album to score four top-five singles on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting in 1983. Her second album, True Colors, and the 1985 film The Goonie’s soundtrack contributed to her ongoing success. She has released eleven studio albums since 1983.

Check out: 25 Best Songs From The 80s

30. Nena

Born Gabriele Susanne Kerner is a German singer who rose to fame in 1983 as a lead singer of the band Nena with the Neue Deutsche Well song 99 Luftballons and recorded this song in English as 99 Red Balloons.

In 1989, Nena launched a solo career, releasing first solo album, 奥耻苍驳别蝉肠丑别丑鈥档, on November 5, 1989. With her combined success in band and solo she has sold over 25 million records, making her the most successful German pop singer in chart history.