JANUARY
Top hit
Please Don't Go · KC and the Sunshine Band
Top album
On The Radio: Greatest Hits: Volumes I & II · Donna Summer
Year
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One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Grief and transition
1980
John Lennon's murder stops the world mid-song, post-disco R&B and new wave share the charts, and rock answers with thunder from AC/DC and Queen.
The Murder That Shocked Disco
John Lennon is gone and the world plays his songs in the streets — a reminder that the voices we lean on can be silenced without warning. Post-disco R&B and new wave share the charts while AC/DC and Queen prove that rock still knows how to thunder. The year opens wounded and ends hungry for whatever comes next. Grief and momentum share the same dial until the country finds its next anthem.
- John Lennon
- new wave
- post-disco
- AC/DC
- eighties transition
- John Lennon murdered outside the Dakota — December 8
- AC/DC's 'Back in Black' becomes a rock landmark
- Blondie's 'Call Me' tops the Hot 100 for six weeks
- Queen's 'Another One Bites the Dust' crosses into funk and R&B
Hot 100 · weeks at #1
Top songs
Album chart · weeks at #1
Top albums
Through the year
Tap a month to drill into chart weeks.
FEBRUARY
Top hit
Rock With You · Michael Jackson
Top album
The Wall · Pink Floyd
MARCH
Top hit
Crazy Little Thing Called Love · Queen
Top album
The Wall · Pink Floyd
APRIL
Top hit
Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) · Pink Floyd
Top album
The Wall · Pink Floyd
MAY
Top hit
Call Me · Blondie
Top album
Against The Wind · Bob Seger
JUNE
Top hit
Funkytown · Lipps, Inc
Top album
Against The Wind · Bob Seger
JULY
Top hit
Coming Up (Live At Glasgow) · Paul Mccartney And Wings
Top album
Glass Houses · Billy Joel
AUGUST
Top hit
Magic · Olivia Newton-john
Top album
Emotional Rescue · The Rolling Stones
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
Upside Down · Diana Ross
Top album
Emotional Rescue · The Rolling Stones
OCTOBER
Top hit
Another One Bites The Dust · Queen
Top album
The Game · Queen
NOVEMBER
Top hit
Woman In Love · Barbra Streisand
Top album
Guilty · Barbra Streisand
DECEMBER
Top hit
Lady · Kenny Rogers
Top album
Guilty · Barbra Streisand
