Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
98 free 80s Pop Culture trivia questions with answers — pop culture quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free 80s Pop Culture trivia questions with answers. The 1980s gave us MTV, Michael Jackson's Thriller, the Nintendo Entertainment System, neon fashion, and some of the most iconic movies ever made. From Ghostbusters to The Breakfast Club, from Madonna to Prince, the decade was packed with cultural moments that still resonate today. Test your knowledge of 80s music, movies, TV shows, toys, fashion, and technology with 98 questions that cover every corner of this totally radical decade.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What year did MTV first go on the air?
1981
MTV launched on August 1, 1981, opening with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll" before its first video.
Q 02Which film features a teenager accidentally traveling back to 1955 in a DeLorean?
Back to the Future
Back to the Future (1985) stars Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, who travels back to 1955 in a time machine built from a DeLorean by Doc Brown.
Q 03Which Michael Jackson album became the best-selling album of all time?
Thriller
Thriller, released in 1982, has sold over 70 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album in history.
Q 04Who directed the 1982 sci-fi film about an alien stranded on Earth who befriends a young boy?
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg directed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), drawing on an imaginary alien friend he invented as a child after his parents' divorce.
Q 05Which arcade game released in 1980 features a yellow character navigating a maze while eating dots?
Pac-Man
Pac-Man was released by Namco in 1980 and became one of the most iconic and highest-grossing arcade games of all time.
Q 06Which portable cassette player did Sony introduce in 1979?
Walkman
The Sony Walkman, first released in 1979, became a cultural icon of the 1980s by allowing people to listen to music privately on the go.
Q 07Which band's 'Every Breath You Take' topped the Hot 100 for eight weeks in 1983, its only number one?
The Police
The Police's "Every Breath You Take" spent eight weeks at number one in 1983, the band's only US chart-topper; Sting wrote it in Jamaica and it remains his biggest publishing earner.
Q 08Which 1984 film features a team of parapsychologists starting a ghost-catching business in New York City?
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters (1984), directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis, became one of the biggest comedies of the decade.
Q 09Which puzzle toy by a Hungarian architecture professor sold about 200 million units from 1980 to 1983?
Rubik's Cube
Ernő Rubik originally called it the Magic Cube; Ideal Toy renamed it after its inventor in 1980, and by 2024 around 500 million had been sold.
Q 10Which 1980s cop show made pastel suits and sockless loafers a fashion trend?
Miami Vice
Miami Vice (1984-1989) starring Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas became iconic for its fashion influence, featuring pastel suits, T-shirts, and sockless loafers.
Q 11Which 1982-93 sitcom, set in a Boston bar, had the catchphrase 'where everybody knows your name'?
Cheers
Cheers premiered in 1982 and ran for 11 seasons, becoming one of the most beloved sitcoms of the 1980s with its iconic theme song.
Q 12Which doll line caused shopping frenzies in 1983, each doll coming with adoption papers?
Cabbage Patch Kids
Cabbage Patch Kids, created by Xavier Roberts, sparked massive demand in 1983 with parents fighting in stores to get them. Each doll came with a unique name and adoption certificate.
Q 13Which Prince album and film of the same name featured 'When Doves Cry' and 'Let's Go Crazy'?
Purple Rain
Q 21Which film out-grossed every other release of the 1980s?
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) overtook Star Wars as the highest-grossing film ever and kept that record until Jurassic Park in 1993, far ahead of Return of the Jedi.
Q 22Which John Hughes film puts five students from different cliques in Saturday detention?
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club (1985) brought together a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal for a day of detention, becoming the definitive 80s teen film.
Q 23Whose 1989 'Like a Prayer' video made Pepsi walk away from a sponsorship deal?
Madonna
Purple Rain (1984) was both Prince's album and film; the album spent 24 weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 while 'When Doves Cry' topped the Hot 100.
Q 14Which home console, test-marketed in New York in October 1985, revived the American video game industry?
NES
The NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was test-marketed in New York in October 1985, went nationwide in September 1986, and revived console gaming after the 1983 crash.
Q 15Which 1986 film follows a high school student who skips school for a day of adventures in Chicago?
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), directed by John Hughes and starring Matthew Broderick, follows Ferris as he fakes being sick to enjoy a day off in Chicago.
Q 16Which band released "Livin' on a Prayer" in 1986, featuring a talk box guitar solo?
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi released "Livin' on a Prayer" in 1986 from their album Slippery When Wet. The song's talk box effect, played by Richie Sambora, became instantly recognizable.
Q 17Which sitcom featured four older women sharing a home in Miami and ran from 1985 to 1992?
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls (1985-1992) starred Betty White, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty as four women sharing a home in Miami, winning multiple Emmy Awards.
Q 18Which Apple computer launched in January 1984, days after a $900,000 Super Bowl commercial directed by Ridley Scott?
Macintosh
The Macintosh arrived on January 24, 1984; Scott's commercial aired during Super Bowl XVIII and riffed on George Orwell's 1984.
Q 19Which 1985 charity single brought together 45 music artists to raise money for African famine relief?
We Are the World
"We Are the World" was recorded by USA for Africa on January 28, 1985, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, with 45 artists singing in one overnight session.
Q 20How did Jennifer Beals say the wide-necked sweatshirt on the Flashdance poster came about?
It shrank in the wash, so she cut a big hole in it
Beals said the sweatshirt shrank in the wash, so she cut a big hole to get it over her head; the accidental off-the-shoulder look became one of the decade's defining fashions.
Pepsi cancelled the 1989 deal over the video's religious imagery — but let Madonna keep the $5 million fee.
Q 24What was the carpenter hero of the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong called in its English instructions?
Jumpman
Donkey Kong's 1981 English materials called the hero Jumpman; Nintendo of America later renamed him Mario after Mario Segale, the landlord of its Washington warehouse.
Q 25Which 1987 film featured Patrick Swayze teaching Jennifer Grey to dance at a summer resort?
Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing (1987) starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in a summer romance centered around dancing. Its soundtrack, including "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," became iconic.
Q 26Which Cyndi Lauper hit became an anthem for female empowerment in 1983?
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (1983) became Cyndi Lauper's signature song and a pop culture anthem of the decade, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Q 27Midge Ure and which other musician organised the London-Philadelphia benefit of 13 July 1985?
Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organised Live Aid on 13 July 1985, with Wembley and Philadelphia's JFK Stadium linked by satellite, months after their Band Aid charity single topped the UK chart.
Q 28Which 1980s cartoon featured heroes named Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted as a comic in 1984 and became a hit animated series in 1987, with each turtle named after a Renaissance artist.
Q 29Which 1988 film mixed live action and animation, with cartoons living alongside humans?
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), directed by Robert Zemeckis, pioneered the seamless integration of animation with live-action filmmaking.
Q 30Which 1987 Def Leppard album sold over 20 million copies and includes "Pour Some Sugar on Me"?
Hysteria
Hysteria (1987) took three years to make, with drummer Rick Allen losing an arm mid-production; Phil Collen said it had to sell five million copies just to break even, and it passed 20 million.