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Dubbed "the King of Pop" it goes without saying that Michael Jackson was arguably the most influential and successful artist of the 1980's. Jackson had grown up with music from a very young age, featuring as the young superstar for Jackson 5.
He started his solo career in 1971 while at Motown Records. His music was usually accompanied by a brilliant music video. Hits such as, "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" are examples that are hailed for breaking racial barriers. These music videos helped bring the MTV television channel to the front of music in the 80's.
His album "Thriller" is still the most successful album of all time, with over 66 million copies sold worldwide. Other accolades include, 13 Grammy's, Grammy legend award, 26 American Music awards and the title of "Artist of the Century."

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The 80's saw a great social and economic change in the world due to the advancements made in technology. This decade saw a boom in employment and profit. Multi-national companies in the manufacturing industry expanded and relocated to countries such as China, Thailand and Mexico to name a few, to benefit from the cheap labour available which would increase profit.
Advancements in medicine revealed the AIDS epidemic which has since killed over 40 million people. Global warming had also been recognised in science and politics.
The Cold War between the USSR and US primarily had raged on for years and was coming to an in 1989 when protests were calling for peace. The end of the war was signified by the fall of the Berlin Wall, which has been hailed as the defining moment of the 80's

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The 80's was known for being the digital age of music. New technology had welcomed a new wave of genres and audiences alike. Disco was still popular in the early 80's, however it was slowly but surely being reinvented into dance music. Technology such as digital recording machines, synthesisers and drum machines characterised much of the music of this time.
Rock was also extremely popular, with artists such as Queen, The Rolling Stones and AC/DC continuing their strong popularity from previous years.
However it was the pop scene that dominated this era. Michael Jackson, Boy George, Prince, Madonna and George Michael are some of the names who spearheaded the music for this generation.

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As mentioned, technology was coming to the forefront of music in the 80's. Synthesisers in particular dominated much of the sounds we hear in 80's music. Their ability to replicate sounds of other instruments made them extremely popular among artists, allowing them to create more diverse sounds with ease. The Roland Juno 60, Yamaha DX7 and the Fairlight CMI were popular options for many artists and producers. Drum machines such as the LinnDrum machine were also used heavily. Examples where this can be heard include, "Take On Me" by A-ha, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us" by Starship and "I Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon.
These technologies have influenced music to this day, creating genres such as trance, techno and house music which are extremely popular in our current society.

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Another popular music trend that was on the rise during these years was the UK rave scene. This trend involved playing loud dance music to an audience, typically in nightclubs or festivals. However this caused social and political discontent as the use of drugs (particularly the use of LSD and ecstasy) became a common occurrence at these events. Police involvement meant that organisers kept the details of the event secret until that night. The details would then be communicated via answering machines and pirate radio stations so that police would be unable to track the event. The raves could be held anywhere, so long as they were secluded or kept quiet. A popular location was local fields that the organisers had paid the farmer for the duration of the event.
However, unfortunately for the audiences, police had raised their game and became more cunning in finding out the details of raves, resulting in many being cancelled and often arrests being made.
The pleasure boat disaster of 1989 changed the attitudes of many rave-goers. On the 20th August, 51 people had died on the Marchioness, a small party boat on the river Thames after crashing into a sand dredger. Most of the victims consisted of young adults and teens.