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100 free 70s and 80s Pop Culture trivia questions with answers — pop culture quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
44 free 70s and 80s Pop Culture trivia questions with answers. This quiz pairs 70s and 80s music trivia questions and answers with the pop culture that surrounded them. The music half runs from the Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever, Rumours, Hotel California and ABBA's Eurovision win to Rapper's Delight, the Sex Pistols' only album, then on through Live Aid, Purple Rain, a-ha's pencil-sketch video, Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith, U2, Whitney Houston, Madonna's first number one and the arrival of the Walkman. The pop culture half covers the shows, films and fads of the two decades: Happy Days and M*A*S*H, Jaws and Star Wars, the Pet Rock, the Atari 2600 and the NES, John Hughes, leg warmers and the first video ever played on MTV. Difficulty is mixed, so anyone who lived through the era will score early points and the chart-nerd questions will separate the true fans. Every answer was checked against a reference source, and each question shows its citation once you have answered, so you can use it as a music round at a quiz night or settle an argument about which album really did stay on the chart for 736 weeks.
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Q 01Which disco queen soared to international fame with her 1978 anthem "I Will Survive"?
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" became an empowering disco anthem and a Grammy Award winner, released in late 1978 and topping charts in early 1979.
Q 02Which visionary director helmed the 1982 science fiction blockbuster 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'?
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg directed E.T. from his own idea of an imaginary friend after his parents' divorce; Melissa Mathison wrote the script, and the film overtook Star Wars as the highest-grossing film until Jurassic Park.
Q 03Leather-jacketed greaser Arthur 'The Fonz' Fonzarelli was a central character in which 1970s sitcom?
Happy Days
Fonzie, played by Henry Winkler, was a breakout character on 'Happy Days,' a sitcom that initially focused on Richie Cunningham and his family in the 1950s.
Q 04Which singer released the 1982 album 'Thriller'?
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson's Thriller, released in November 1982, produced seven Top 10 singles including 'Billie Jean' and 'Beat It', and Jackson won eight Grammy Awards at the 1984 ceremony.
Q 05What 1970s novelty 'pet' came in a cardboard box with straw and breathing holes?
Pet Rock
The Pet Rock was dreamed up by advertising executive Gary Dahl in 1975 while friends complained about their pets; each rock came with a training manual for commands like 'sit' and 'stay'.
Q 06Which knitted 1980s accessory was associated with aerobics and dancewear?
Leg warmers
Leg warmers, first worn by dancers to keep calf muscles warm, became mainstream 1980s fashion after the films Fame (1980) and Flashdance (1983) and the aerobics craze.
Q 07Which 1975 shark thriller, the first major film shot on the open ocean, is the prototypical summer blockbuster?
Jaws
Jaws, shot off Martha's Vineyard, ran far over budget and schedule because its mechanical sharks kept failing, forcing Spielberg to suggest the shark rather than show it, which made the film scarier.
Q 08Which 1985 console revitalized the video game industry after the 1983 crash?
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) introduced iconic franchises like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, becoming a household name.
Q 09Which comedian hosted her own CBS sketch-and-music variety show from 1967 to 1978?
Carol Burnett
The Carol Burnett Show ran 279 episodes on CBS from 1967 to 1978, with Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway as regulars, and Burnett closing each episode by tugging her ear.
Q 10Which band is famously known for their power ballad "Don't Stop Believin'", released in 1981?
Journey
Journey released 'Don't Stop Believin'' on the 1981 album Escape; sung by Steve Perry, it reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and found new life through The Sopranos finale and Glee.
Q 11Which exclusive New York disco, opened in 1977, became a byword for the era's excess?
Studio 54
Studio 54 opened in April 1977 at 254 West 54th Street, the address that gave it its name; co-owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were jailed for tax evasion in 1980.
Q 12Which writer-director defined the 1980s teen film with The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles?
John Hughes
John Hughes wrote, co-produced and directed Ferris Bueller's Day Off in 1986, capturing the angst and humour of adolescence.
Q 13Which Freddie Mercury-fronted band released "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 1975?
Queen
Q 21Which group contributed 'Stayin' Alive' and 'Night Fever' to the 1977 Saturday Night Fever soundtrack?
The Bee Gees
The Bee Gees wrote 'Stayin' Alive', 'Night Fever' and 'How Deep Is Your Love' for Saturday Night Fever in a few days at a French château; the soundtrack was the best-selling album ever until Thriller.
Q 22Which band's 'Hotel California' won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1978?
The Eagles
The Eagles' 'Hotel California' took Record of the Year at the 1978 Grammys; Don Felder wrote the music, and its closing guitar duel with Joe Walsh was spliced together from several takes.
Q 23Which 1977 album, made as its band's two couples broke up, sold over 40 million copies and won Album of the Year?
Queen released 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in October 1975 as the lead single from A Night at the Opera; it spent nine weeks at No. 1 in the UK despite its six-minute length and operatic middle section.
Q 14Which 1980s animated series featured He-Man of Eternia battling the evil Skeletor?
Masters of the Universe
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ran two 65-episode seasons from 1983 to 1985; He-Man's alter ego Prince Adam is the son of King Randor and Queen Marlena.
Q 15Which activity boomed after Frank Nasworthy introduced polyurethane wheels in 1972?
Skateboarding
Skateboarding boomed after Frank Nasworthy's Cadillac Wheels replaced hard clay wheels with grippy polyurethane in 1972; Skateboarder magazine relaunched in 1975 and purpose-built skateparks followed.
Q 16Which iconic 1977 science fiction film popularized the phrase, "May the Force be with you"?
Star Wars
Star Wars (1977) popularized 'May the Force be with you', ranked eighth on the AFI's 100 movie quotes; the film gained its 'Episode IV: A New Hope' subtitle only on its 1981 re-release.
Q 17What was the first music video ever played on MTV when the channel launched on August 1, 1981?
The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
MTV signed on at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981 with The Buggles' 'Video Killed the Radio Star', a 1979 UK No. 1 whose title suited the new channel; Pat Benatar's 'You Better Run' played second.
Q 18Which series ran from 1972 to 1983, eleven years for a three-year war, following an army surgical unit in Korea?
M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H's fictional 4077th was loosely based on the real 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital of the Korean War.
Q 19Which 1977 console, launched with nine games on 2 KB cartridges, found its killer app in a 1980 port of Space Invaders?
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 launched as the Atari Video Computer System in September 1977; its 1982 Pac-Man port was a notorious letdown.
Q 20Which actor played the fedora-wearing, whip-cracking archaeologist Indiana Jones in the 1980s films?
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford first played Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Tom Selleck was the original choice but had to pass because he was committed to Magnum, P.I.
Rumours
Rumours, Fleetwood Mac's eleventh studio album, was recorded as Christine and John McVie divorced and Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks split; it won Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammys.
Q 24In which English seaside town did ABBA win the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Waterloo'?
Brighton
ABBA won the 1974 contest at the Brighton Dome with 'Waterloo', having nearly entered 'Hasta Mañana' instead; in 2005 'Waterloo' was voted the best song in Eurovision history.
Q 25Which 1973 album charted for over 14 years on the Billboard 200 but topped it once?
The Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon stayed on the Billboard 200 from 1973 until 1988, yet it reached No. 1 for only a single week, in April 1973.
Q 26Which trio's 1979 debut 'Rapper's Delight' is credited with bringing rap to a mass audience?
The Sugarhill Gang
The Sugarhill Gang (Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank and Master Gee) were assembled by producer Sylvia Robinson; 'Rapper's Delight', built on Chic's 'Good Times' bassline, reached the US Top 40 in 1979-80.
Q 27Which producer co-wrote Donna Summer's 1977 hit "I Feel Love", built around a Moog synthesizer?
Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder co-wrote and produced 'I Feel Love' with Pete Bellotte for Summer's album I Remember Yesterday, whose closing track was meant to sound like 'the future'; Brian Eno called it the sound of the future.
Q 28How many studio albums did the Sex Pistols release?
One
The Sex Pistols released just one studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, in October 1977 through Virgin after being dropped by EMI and A&M.
Q 29Which duo's 'Bridge over Troubled Water' swept the 1971 Grammys?
Simon & Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge over Troubled Water' won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 1971 Grammys, and its parent album took Album of the Year; Aretha Franklin's gospel cover won a Grammy the next year.
Q 30How old was Elvis Presley when he died in August 1977?
42
Elvis Presley was 42 when he died on 16 August 1977, having been born on 8 January 1935; he had bought Graceland, his Memphis mansion, in 1957 for just over $100,000.