Top 100 Songs of 1981: The Year-End Chart

“Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes was the biggest hit of 1981, finishing at No. 1 on the year-end Top 100 ahead of “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie and “Lady” by Kenny Rogers. The year-end chart ranks the songs that performed best across the whole year, not just in a single week.

19 acts placed more than one song on the list, led by Diana Ross (3), John Lennon (3), Daryl Hall and John Oates (3), Sheena Easton (3), Neil Diamond (3). None of the 100 songs was on the 1980 year-end list.

The 1980s: the sound of the era

MTV launched in 1981, and the decade's charts reflect it: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince and Whitney Houston became global stars, synth-pop and new wave arrived from the UK, and power ballads and hair metal filled out the year-end lists by the late 1980s.

Born in 1963? This was the year you turned 18. Tune the mixer to your year, or try today’s Name That Year game.

The full 1981 year-end Top 100

Source: Billboard’s year-end singles chart, as compiled on Wikipedia. Hey DJ 4U is an independent site, not affiliated with Billboard. ▶ plays the song in Hey DJ 4U; ♪ searches for it on Apple Music. Spotted an error? Tell us.