The 80s gave rock listeners some of the most impactful No. 1 hits. Here are some of the best classic rock hits from the 80s that were also bands’ first No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” is Guns N’ Roses only No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. The song came about during a jam session when guitarist Slash started playing a circus-style melody. In an interview with Eddie Trunk, Slash shared that the song didn’t originate from a warm-up exercise, as certain rumors have suggested.
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“It wasn’t a warm-up exercise. I was sitting around the house where Guns used to live at one point in ’86 I guess it was and I just came up with this riff,” he explained. “It was just me messing around and putting notes together like any riff you do. You’re like, ‘This is cool,’ and then you put the third note and find a melody like that. So it was a real riff, it wasn’t a warm-up exercise.”
“You Give Love A Bad Name” by Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child, and Richie Sambora penned this song in the basement of Sambora’s mother’s house. This one was released as the first single from Bon Jovi’s 1986 album Slippery When Wet. It was followed shortly after by songs like “Livin’ On A Prayer” from the album, which ended up being the group’s second Billboard Hot 100 Hit.
“The very first day we got together, we wrote ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’. Then a few weeks later we wrote ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’,” Child shared in an interview with Songfacts. “It was a magical collaboration and there was instant chemistry between us.”
“I Want To Know What Love Is” by Foreigner
This has to be one of the greatest power ballads of all time.
Although the writing of this song is credited to Mick Jones, Foreigner co-founder Lou Gramm claims that he also partook in the writing of the song but was only offered 5% credit by Jones.
“[Jones’] home was about 15 minutes from my home,” Gramm told Corey Irwin. “So I would drive over to his house and we would work on that song. There’d be moments where it was just magic and then we’d hit our head on something creatively that we couldn’t get to the next point. And so we almost had to put the song away for a couple of weeks and come back to it again. I felt we had worked our tails off to make that song what it is …”
Rick Wills, who was Foreigner’s bassist at the time, claims that the song was written by Jones alone.
Photo by: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage
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DETROIT – MAY 27: American singer-songwriter, Jon Bon Jovi, who is the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, poses during a portrait session before their concert at the Joe Louis Arena, during their Slippery When Wet tour, in Detroit, MI, May 26, 1987. (Photo by Ross Marino/Getty Images) -
USTRALIA – NOVEMBER 20: Photo of Michael JACKSON; Michael Jackson performing on stage, with backing singers, at the Paramatta Stadium in Sydney – Bad Tour (Photo by Bob King/Redferns) -
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 01: Billy Joel performs live on stage during his 1980 US tour (Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns) -
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA – 1980: Country singer Dolly Parton poses during a 1980 portrait session before taking the stage at Ceasar's Palace in South Lake Tahoe, California. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) -
Country singer songwriters the Davis Sisters (Mary Frances Penick, better known as Skeeter Davis with Betty Jack Davis and Ernie Newton on Bass) on stage at the Grand Ole Opry circa 1951 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bob Grannis/Getty Images) -
LOS ANGELES – CIRCA 1988: Pop singer Elton John performs onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in circa 1988 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
American country musician Buck Owens plays guitar in a promotion portrait for his 'All American Show,' mid 1960s. (Photo by Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) -
UNITED STATES – JUNE 01: Photo of Jimmy PAGE and Robert PLANT and LED ZEPPELIN; L-R. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page performing live onstage (Photo by Robert Knight Archive/Redferns)