30 Notable ‘80s Female Singers And Vocalists

The 1980s were a great time for music, with so many iconic female singers and vocalists rising to fame. Some of the best ‘80s women’s singers include the genre’s all-time greats, such as Whitney Houston, Madonna and Gloria Estefan. They made an impact that reached well beyond record stores and radios; they became pop culture scene-stealers and influenced everything from media to fashion to entertainment. The best 80s female singers had impressive voices and spawned hit after danceable hit while also showing off their sexuality in ways that had previously been taboo. The ’80s female vocalists on this list continue to impact music today with their legacy of hard work and incredible performances.

Top Female Singers Of The 1980s

The most popular music in the 1980s included pop, punk, rock, R&B and new wave music, and the best ’80s female singers performed in those genres. Their musical legacy lives on today in the fusion of musical genres such as gospel, pop and R&B thanks to Houston and the popularization of pop from Estefan.

Madonna pioneered political speech in music, something that lives on today. And women like Houston, Tina Turner and Janet Jackson broke down barriers to make it easier for other Black women to become stars. This list was chosen based on influence on music and culture, commercial success, critical acclaim and how well artists’ music has held up over the years.

30. Nena

German singer Gabriele Susanne Kerner, known by her stage name of Nena, rose to fame based on the hit “99 Luftballons,” recorded in English as “99 Red Balloons.” She performed with the group Nena before becoming a solo artist, and she sold more than 25 million albums, an all-time best for a German pop singer.

She didn’t start in music until she was 19, when she became the lead singer of a German pop band—before that, Nena had been training as a goldsmith. While “Balloons” was her only English-language hit, Nena was popular in Europe for years, and she launched her solo career in 1989. In 2009, she founded a record label, and she continues to tour. She released 13 solo albums, the most recent in 2020, as well as six albums with the band Nena.

29. Irene Cara Escalera

The singer behind the hit song “Fame,” Irene Cara Escalera also appeared in the hit 1980 movie of the same name, which rose to No. 1 around the world. She later co-wrote and recorded the hugely popular theme song to Flashdance, which earned her an Oscar and a Grammy.

Cara Escalera was a child actress whose early credits included a stint on The Electric Company. She later appeared in Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and landed a part on the hugely successful miniseries Roots. She continued to act and sing into the 1980s and formed a band in 1999. She competed on a country reality series in 2011, and she passed away in 2022. Cara Escalara released five studio albums.

28. Joni Mitchell

One of the best ‘70s and ’80s female folk singers, Joni Mitchell is known for infusing her personal experiences in her music. She earned recognition as one of the best songwriters ever by Rolling Stone and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

After getting her start in Canadian nightclubs, she began writing songs for other singers before eventually recorded her own hits, with top songs including “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Woodstock.” The legendary 1971 album Blue is her best, but the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner was still rocking out in the ’80s with the Refuge tour and album Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm. With 19 studio albums to her credit, she last performed publicly at a 2025 benefit those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires.

27. Laura Branigan

Laura Branigan scored one of the biggest hits of the early ’80s with “Gloria,” the 1982 cover of an Italian song that stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, setting a record for a female artists. Her other hits included “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” and “Self Control.”

Branigan got her start in the early ’70s as part of a folk-rock group. She later signed with Atlantic Records and released her first solo album in 1982, which spawned “Gloria” and earned her a Grammy nod. She produced seven studio albums and also contributed to big soundtracks like Ghostbusters. Branigan passed away in 2004.

26. Kim Wilde

British pop singer Kim Wilde had one of the quintessential ’80s songs with “Kids in America” in 1981—it seemed like it was playing everywhere at the time in the UK. She had another huge hit in 1986 with a cover of the Supremes smash “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”

She set a record as the most-charted British female solo act of the 1980s and was also very successful throughout Europe. Though her father and brother wrote many of her early hits, she began writing some of her own music in the mid-1980s. Wilde recorded 15 albums, the most recent of which was released in 2025, though she now focuses more on her career as a landscape gardener.

25. Reba McIntire

One of the standout 1980s female country singers, Reba McIntire topped the Hot Country charts 25 times and placed more than 100 singles on the charts. She has sold more than 75 million albums and got her start with her siblings in the Singing McEntires, who played local events.

McIntire was discovered while singing at a rodeo event by country star Red Steagull, who later helped her land a recording contract. Her first No. 1 hit, “Can’t Even Get the Blues,” came out in 1982, and her 1984 album, My Kind of Country, was a smash. She had almost a dozen No. 1s in the ’80s, including “One Promise Too Late” and “Whoever’s in New England.” She has released 33 albums, most recently in 2023, and stars in a sitcom on NBC.

24. Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt is known for her versatility. She recorded successfully in genres ranging from country to rock to Latin music while earning 11 Grammy awards and three American Music Awards. She’s also an accomplished actress with Tony and Emmy nods. Ronstadt earned lifetime achievement awards from the Grammys and Latin Grammys.

Her 24 studio albums include 38 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, 10 of which hit the top 10. She’s well known for her impressive duets, including “Somewhere Out There” with James Ingram and “Don’t Know Much” with Aaron Neville. Other hits include “You’re No Good” and country single “Silver Threads and Golden Needles.” She released her last solo album in 2004 and was named to Rolling Stone’s list of top 200 singers of all time.

23. Bonnie Tyler

Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, born Gaynor Sullivan, had a distinctive voice that lent itself to all types of rock music, including pop, country and progressive. She’s best known for 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which shows off her husky tones, but she also had other hits, including “Holding Out for a Hero.”

With three Grammy nods to her name, Tyler recorded 18 studio albums. She started out as a backup singer and then formed a band called Imagination. She was a solo artist by the time she released her first album in 1977. She has continued to record over the years and even participated in the 2014 Eurovision contest.

22. Stevie Nicks

Part of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Stevie Nicks went solo in the 1980s, releasing the album Bella Donna, which rose to No. 1 and sparked four singles hits. Her next album, The Wild Heart, became multiplatinum and achieved No. 5 on the charts.

Nicks was already well-known from her time with Fleetwood Mac, with whom she continued to record in the ’80s. She finally left the band in 1989 following a dispute over song rights. Nicks had 15 studio albums with the band and as a soloist, and she earned eight Grammy nods during her solo career. She continues to tour but hasn’t released a new album since 2014.

21. Taylor Dayne

Dayne has a slew of hits to her name, including seven top-10 singles, as well as two two-times platinum albums. She has sold more than 75 million albums and earned three gold singles plus three Grammy nominations. She’s considered a pop artist whose dance hits won most of her acclaim.

She became a singer after high school, toiling in a couple of unsuccessful bands before going solo after college. Her first hit, “Tell It To My Heart” in 1987, reached the top five on many charts worldwide. Other smashes included “Don’t Rush Me” and “With Every Beat of My Heart.” Dayne released five studio albums and competed on RuPaul’s Celebrity Drag Race in 2022.

20. Sade

Helen Folasade Adu, better known by her performing name of Sade, became one of the best women singers in the ’80s as lead vocalist of the band Sade. She was so successful that she earned Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2002.

A native of Ibadan, Nigeria, she started in the band Pride, then formed the band Sade in the early ’80s. Known for jazzy songs, they recorded six studio albums, including their hugely popular debut, Diamond Life. Sade’s top hits included “Smooth Operator” and “Your Love Is King.” She was the first Nigerian-born artist to win a Grammy, and she’s recorded a couple of songs in recent years, including one for the Disney movie A Wrinkle in Time.

19. Aretha Franklin

The Queen of Soul continued her hugely successful ’70s career into a new decade, signing with Arista Records after leaving Atlantic. In addition to filming a role in Blues Brothers, she earned her first gold record in 11 years with 1982 album Jump To It.

Her ‘80s hits included “Hold On, I’m Comin,’” “Get It Right,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Freeway of Love.” She also provided important pop culture moments, recording the beloved theme to hit TV show A Different World and performing “America the Beautiful” at WrestleMania III. Her 39 albums sold more than 75 million copies, and she became the first female artist in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She passed away in 2018.

18. Chaka Khan

Yvette Marie Stevens, known by her stage name of Chaka Khan, was dubbed The Queen of Funk. She had early success as part of the band Rufus, then launched her solo career to even more acclaim in the ’80s. She pioneered new sounds, becoming the first R&B artist with a crossover hit with a rapper.

Khan earned 10 Grammy awards plus three gold singles and four gold albums with Rufus. In addition to working with a who’s who of the R&B world, including Mary J. Blige, Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, Khan had hits like “I Feel for You,” “This Is My Night,” “Higher Love” and “I’m Every Woman.” She recorded 13 studio albums, the most recent dropping in 2019.

17. Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris had a decades-long career in country music, but the biggest commercial success of her career came in 1987, when she recorded album Trio with friends Dolly Parton and Pat Benatar. It went to No. 1 on the country charts and No. 6 overall, including hits like “To Know Him Is to Love Him.”

Harris began by recording a folk album in the 1960s and became an acclaimed country and Americana artist with a career that lasted for decades. She had three top-selling albums in the early ’80s, with hits including “Born to Run,” and then had four top-10 singles on Trio. She has recorded 22 studio albums, the last coming out in 2013.

16. Chrissie Hynde

The lead vocalist for The Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of the band. She is the only original band member to stay on through all of its variations, though she did record a solo album, too.

Hynde attended Kent State University for music and later bounced around between the United States, France and London, where she got involved in the growing punk scene. She joined several bands before creating The Pretenders with Pete Farndon (the name was taken from the R&B song “The Great Pretender”). Their hits included “I’m Not in Love,” “Talk of the Town,” “Back on the Chain Gang” and “I’ll Stand by You.” She recorded 16 albums as a solo artist and with The Pretenders and another group, JP, Chrissie and the Fairground Boys.

15. Diana Ross

Diana Ross, the “Queen of Motown Records,” saw early success with the Supremes and then transitioned to a huge solo career that flourished in the 1980s. Ross actually left Motown in 1981 for a huge contract at RCA Records, signing what was then the biggest record deal ever at $20 million.

Ross’s first album, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, sold more than 1 million, and she followed it up with a much-lauded performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1982 Super Bowl. She collaborated with artists including Barry Gibb, Julio Iglesias and Lionel Richie over the coming years, and her biggest hits included “Chain Reaction.” Ross, who won two Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards, recorded 26 solo albums, the last in 2021.

14. Dolly Parton

One of the all-time bestselling country artists, Dolly Parton moved more than 100 million albums and had 25 No. 1 singles. Her 49 solo studio albums and 18 collaborations make her one of the most prolific artists as well. Some of her biggest hits in the 1980s came from films.

The smash “9 to 5,” released in conjunction with the movie, and “I Will Always Love You,” released as a single from the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, were particularly memorable, and she also earned Golden Globe acting nods from the films. Parton also shifted more to pop in the ’80s, with crossover hits like “Real Love” and “Islands in the Streams.” She recorded an album as recently as 2023.

13. Belinda Carlisle

As lead singer of the Go-Gos, one of the top all-female rock bands, Belinda Carlisle played a key role in popularizing new wave music. The group sold more than 7 million albums before Carlisle launched her successful solo career. The Go-Gos got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

As a solo artist, Carlisle burned up the pop charts with songs including “Circle in the Sand,” “I Get Weak” and “Mad About You.” She began her career after high school as drummer in a punk band, and shortly thereafter, she co-founded the Go-Gos with some musician friends. Though they were inexperienced, they improved quickly and in 1981 became the first all-female band to write their own music and play their own instruments to score a No. 1 album (Beauty and the Beat). They recorded four studio albums, and Carlisle had eight solo albums, the most recent in 2017.

12. Olivia Newton-John

After gaining popularity in the 1970s, Olivia Newton-John became a breakout star in the ‘80s. She sold 100 million albums in her career and is the second-bestselling female artist ever in Australia. Her song “Physical,” released in 1981, was the ’80s’ highest-ranking Hot 100 single. She earned four Grammys and six American Music Awards.

Newton-John got her start in singing as a teenager, forming an all-girl singing group that performed at local coffeeshops and winning a national TV singing competition at 17. After releasing her first solo album in 1971, she scored a number of hits and then starred in the smash movie Grease. In the ’80s, she found success on the soundtrack to Xanadu and released her biggest adult contemporary hit, “Magic.” She recorded 26 albums and passed away in 2022.

11. Cher

Cher, born Cheryl Sarkisian, became a cultural icon as well as one of the most talented singers and actresses of her generation. After shooting to fame as half of Sonny & Cher, she became a solo artist and released two platinum albums in the 80s, Cher and Heart of Stone.

The artist who would eventually sell 100 million albums worldwide got her start at 16 when she dropped out of school and began performing in nightclubs. She met future partner Sonny Bono in 1962, and they recorded many hits, including “I Got You Babe.” Once they split, Cher reemerged in the ‘80s as an actress, earning two Oscar nominations, and released top-10 singles including “I Found Someone” and “If I Could Turn Back Time.” She recorded 23 solo albums, the most recent released in 2023, and five albums as half of Sonny & Cher.

10. Tracy Chapman

Folk and blues rock musician Tracy Chapman became a success with the release of her first self-titled album, and her fame really took off following her appearance at the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday concert in 1988. She’s best known for the smash “Fast Car,” which became a hit again with Luke Combs’s 2023 cover.

Chapman started writing songs as a child, and she was inspired by the TV show Hee Haw to learn to play guitar. She signed her first record contract after graduating from Tufts University in 1987. “Fast Car” peaked at No. 6 on the charts, and Rolling Stone named it to its list of 500 greatest all-time songs. Tracy Chapman won three Grammys, including Best New Artist, and her next album, Crossroads, released in 1989, also went platinum. She has recorded eight studio albums, and her Grammy Awards performance with Combs in 2024 went viral.

9. Cyndi Lauper

With a four-octave range and colorful personality, Cyndi Lauper has sold more than 50 million albums. She made Billboard history with the 1983 album She’s So Unusual, which spawned four top-five hits, a first for a female artist. She went on to win Best New Artist at the 1985 Grammys.

Lauper’s best-known hit, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” remains an anthem for women today, and other hits like “She Bop” and “Time After Time” have stayed surprisingly fresh. The two-time Grammy winner began writing songs at age 12 and later joined several bands before going solo. Lauper, who became the first woman to win a Tony for original score by herself for Kinky Boots, has recorded 12 studio albums.

8. Wynonna Judd

Though Wynonna Judd rose to acclaim with her mother, Naomi, as part of the Judds, she is also one of the best country singers of the ’80s in her own right. The duo had 14 No. 1 singles off their seven studio albums, and Wynonna released eight more on her own.

Born Christina Claire Ciminella, Wynonna adopted a stage name from the song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” The Judds signed their first record deal in 1983 and worked together for eight more years, earning five Grammy and nine Country Music Association Awards nominations. They were the biggest-selling duo in country until the 1990s, with hits like “Why Not Me” and “Give a Little Love.” Wynonna released her most recent album in 2020.

7. Annie Lennox

With her distinctive looks and voice, Annie Lennox made early waves in the band The Tourists but achieved greater success as part of the duo the Eurythmics. The rocker later embarked on a solo career in the ’90s. She is a four-time Grammy winner and six-time Brit Award winner.

Lennox trained in flute and piano from an early age and studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music. When she formed the Eurythmics with David Stewart, she became known for her androgynous style as well as her alto voice. Their biggest hit, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” charted at No. 1, and other popular songs included “Here Comes the Rain Again” and “Would I Lie to You?” She went on to a solo career and significant activism while periodically reuniting with Stewart. Lennox released eight albums with the Eurythmics and six as a solo artist,

6. Pat Benatar

Four-time Grammy winner Pat Benatar boasts two multi-platinum albums and five platinum albums to her name. The 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is a rocker with a mezzo-soprano range best known for the 1983 hit single “Love Is a Battlefield.”

Shortly after dropping out of college, Benatar joined the band Coxon’s Army, then did a series of small singing parts and even sang for commercial jingles before releasing her debut album in 1989. She no longer performs “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” one of her top singles, as a protest of gun violence. Benatar released 12 studio albums and still tours.

5. Tina Turner

The Queen of Rock ‘n Roll had her huge comeback in the 1980s following her split with abusive husband Ike Turner. She achieved her only Billboard No. 1 with 1984’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” which also earned Grammy Record of the Year. She also had the 1980s’ top-grossing female-artist tour.

Tina Turner sang in her church choir as a child and began performing with Ike Turner as a teenager. They achieved great commercial success but at great personal cost to the singer, who recorded her hit 10 million-selling album Private Dancer in just two weeks. She starred in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985, and “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” became a big hit. Turner recorded 31 solo albums, including nine solo, before passing away in 2023.

4. Janet Jackson

As a member of the supremely talented Jackson family, Janet Jackson always seemed destined for fame, though no one could question that she earned all her accolades herself. She began as a TV star in the 1970s but graduated to pop fame in the 1980s with the albums Control and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814.

Jackson is credited with pioneering a mesh of blues, rhythm and rap and her intricately choreographed videos also helped popularize MTV in the 1980s. She is one of the bestselling artists of all time, with more than 100 million album sales. The five-time Grammy winner’s hits in the 1980s include the title track to Nation, “Miss You Much,” “Escapade,” “What Have You Done for Me Lately” and many more. She has recorded 11 studio albums and continues to produce music today.

3. Gloria Estefan

Cuban American singer and eight-time Grammy winner Gloria Estefan has sold more than 100 million records and earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The contralto began as lead singer of Miami Latin Boys, later redubbed the Miami Sound Machine, whose first No. 1 hit came in 1989 with “Anything for You.”

Estefan came to the Miami Latin Boys’ attention while a student at University of Miami when they saw her sing at a reception. She began performing with them (and eventually married band member Emilio Estefan Jr.), and they gained fame around the world by the early 80s. Their 1985 album Primitive Love included three top-10 hits: “Conga,” “Bad Boy” and “Words Get in the Way.” One of their top all-time songs came in 1987, “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You.” Estefan recorded eight albums with Miami Sound Machine and 15 solo.

2. Madonna

Madonna Louise Ciccone, better known as Madonna, earned the nickname “Queen of Pop” for her versatility and ability to keep her finger on the pulse of America. Through multiple reinventions and desire to challenge cultural norms, she has remained relevant for more than four decades and is the bestselling female recording artist ever.

Madonna earned a dance scholarship to University of Michigan but dropped out to study under Martha Graham in New York City. She joined several bands before releasing her first solo single in 1982. Her debut album, Madonna, came out in 1983 and catapulted her to fame with “Borderline” and “Lucky Star.” Her fashions became mainstream, and her second album, Like a Virgin, became the first by a female solo artist to sell more than 5 million in the U.S. She stirred up controversy with songs like “Like a Prayer.” With 14 studio albums, Madonna is still a huge pop culture figure today.

1. Whitney Houston

Little wonder Whitney Houston was often called “the Voice.” With a four-octave range and an ability to swing from gospel to soul to pop to bunk, Houston was a once-in-a-generation talent who dominated the charts and later became a bankable movie star. She started early, signing with Arista Records at 19.

Her first two albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), went to No. 1 for at least 11 weeks. She sold an incredible 220 million albums during her career, and her first two albums rank as some of the bestselling of all time. Her 1987 hit “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” also ranks as one of the top-selling singles ever made. She’s the only artist to ever hit No. 1 with seven consecutive songs. Houston recorded just seven studio albums, plus two soundtrack albums, in her career before passing away in 2012.

Bottom Line

From headlining influential ‘80s bands to providing political and culture commentary that helped shape public opinion of the day, women singers of the ’80s played an important role. So queue up some Whitney Houston songs or a Gloria Estefan ballad, and relax to some of the best music around.

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