1985 in Music

Live Aid, stadium pop, and a global audience.

On July 13, 1985, Live Aid broadcast simultaneously from Wembley and Philadelphia to a global audience estimated at 1.9 billion. Pop had become a planetary medium. Tears for Fears released Songs from the Big Chair, Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms became the first album designed for the new compact disc format, and a-ha turned 'Take On Me' into the era's most iconic music video.

Trends of 1985

Sophisti-pop and stadium rock dominated radio. Goth and post-punk consolidated around The Cure's The Head on the Door and the Sisters of Mercy's First and Last and Always. Hip-hop's golden age was emerging with LL Cool J and Run-DMC.

Key albums

• Brothers in Arms — Dire Straits
• Songs from the Big Chair — Tears for Fears
• The Head on the Door — The Cure
• Hounds of Love — Kate Bush

Key songs

• Take On Me — a-ha
• Everybody Wants to Rule the World — Tears for Fears
• In Between Days — The Cure
• How Soon Is Now? — The Smiths

Artists of 1985

• a-ha — Took the Norwegian trio to global superstardom with 'Take On Me'.
• Tears for Fears — Songs from the Big Chair topped charts worldwide.

Legacy

Live Aid changed forever what an artist's responsibility could be — and proved that pop could mobilise the world.

All years 1980–1989 · 80s charts by year

Compiled and fact-checked by the RADIO 1980 Editorial Team. Spotted something wrong? Send a correction.