These 5 Classic Rock Songs From The '80s Are Worth A Head-Turning Amount Of Money

Not only do some '80s songs rank among the most beloved and listened to of all time, but they're also some of the most lucrative pieces of music ever recorded and released. Some of the best '80s rock albums sold tens of millions of copies, and a few '80s songs defined rock history on their way to making their composers and performers extremely wealthy.

A relatively small collection of rock songs released during the 1980s went on to become absolutely legendary, however. Embraced immediately as hits but which would endure as iconic and definitive tunes of the era, these songs never really went away after their rise and fall on the music charts. They moved so many people to buy a 45 or cassette single (if not a full album) that they could blast on repeat forever, or at least until the dawn of the streaming era, which continued to rack up the listening and sales figures until those compositions reached mega-multi-platinum status. Here are the five classic and well-known rock cuts from the 1980s that are a cut above the rest — because they each made (and continue to make) an absolute fortune.

Back when Journey, featuring the golden pipes of lead singer Steve Perry, was in its early '80s heyday, "Don't Stop Believin'" was far from being the band's biggest hit. It peaked at No. 9 on the pop chart in late 1981, well below other tracks like "Open Arms" and "Who's Crying Now." But that tune, a story song about a man and a woman giving the modern world their best shot despite adversity, was built to last. It's a slow-building anthem perfect for sing-alongs, and while it never disappeared from classic rock radio, it acquired new fans over the decades as a karaoke staple and through prominent use in popular TV shows like "The Sopranos," "Glee," and "Family Guy." 

By 2013, "Don't Stop Believin'" had been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 5 million copies. In 2024, the RIAA declared the song had sold the equivalent of 18 million units, taking digital distribution into consideration. It's the most frequently downloaded song of the 21st century, and as of 2026, it's been streamed on Spotify more than 2.6 billion times.

Appealing to fans of the kind of anthemic, sing-along arena-filling hard rock popular in the 1970s and early '80s as well as to those who preferred the keyboard-heavy pop-rock and hair bands of the late 1980s, Bon Jovi struck gold with "Livin' on a Prayer." The second single off of Bon Jovi's 1986 15-million-selling album, "Slippery When Wet," "Livin' on a Prayer" spent four weeks at the top of the Hot 100 chart in early 1987.

Over time, and when digital streaming emerged as a way to purchase and listen to virtually all music ever recorded, "Livin' on a Prayer" continued to prove to be a hit with millions. RIAA says that Bon Jovi has sold the equivalent of 10 million units of "Livin' on a Prayer." With at least 25 million exchanging money for the right to hear the song, it's one of the most money-generating pieces of music of the 1980s.

"Every Breath You Take" by Sting's versatile U.K. rock band the Police topped the U.S. pop chart for eight weeks in 1983, and Billboard named it the top song of the year. The track, which is about stalking and obsession but is widely misinterpreted as a love song, burrowed into the collective consciousness and stayed there. BMI, the organization that tracks the usage and performances of copyrighted songs, revealed in 2019 that "Every Breath You Take" was the most played song in radio history, spun by DJs about 15 million times since it was released in 1983.

Audiences were very familiar with the song when it was used as the obvious sample and hook in "I'll Be Missing You," the 1997 Notorious B.I.G. tribute led by rapper Puff Daddy. The musician failed to secure permission and had to turn over royalties generated by the song — a substantial sum, as it spent 11 weeks at No. 1 — which Sting (the sole credited original songwriter) said instantly paid for his children's entire education. With all sources factored in, "Every Breath You Take" accounts for 25%, or about $5 million to $8 million, of Sting's overall royalty payments and generates about $730,000 a year. Owning the rights to that song was certainly the prized item when Universal Music Group bought Sting's catalog for $300 million in 2022. If "Every Breath You Take" is worth a quarter of that number, then the song has a potential value of around $75 million.

AC/DC's popularity and stature grew throughout the 1970s, but the 1980 album "Back in Black" was both its commercial peak and the first recorded with lead singer Brian Johnson, who replaced deceased original frontman Bon Scott. The Johnson era was even more successful than the Scott one. Far and away the top-selling metal album ever released, AC/DC's "Back in Black" has sold 27 million copies in the United States alone; only the Eagles' first greatest hits album and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" have attracted more buyers. The "Back in Black" LP is packed with AC/DC's best-known songs and biggest hit singles, such as "You Shook Me All Night Long" and the rigid, loud, epically riff-driven title track.

Even fans who didn't want the whole "Back in Black" album embraced "Back in Black" the song. Recognized for sales of 7 million copies in the U.S., the most for any heavy metal song except for AC/DC's 1990 hit "Thunderstruck." "Back in Black" is AC/DC's biggest '80s song in the 21st century streaming marketplace, too, racking up more than 2 billion listens just on Spotify. In 2021, AC/DC's original publisher and controller of its catalog arranged a costly distribution deal with Sony. "Back in Black" is one of the most demonstrably valuable items in the AC/DC canon, and a major reason why the package is valued at around $400 million.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Toto crafted such a smooth, professional sound because its members were all seasoned studio musicians. The soft rock band had a bunch of hits, but only one has reached a saturation point in the 21st century: "Africa," Toto's only No. 1 smash, which spent a sole week at the top of the pop chart in February 1983. After eight years in the world, the percussive, moody, and unimposing "Africa" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500,000 copies. Thereafter, it became a staple of adult contemporary radio and public background music.

A series of unrelated events in the 2010s led to a surge in popularity for "Africa." It popped up in an episode of "South Park," landed a play in the debut episode of the extremely popular "Stranger Things," and pop-rock band Weezer went viral with a fan-urged cover of the song. That all created a lot of interest in the original Toto recording. "Africa" routinely appears on the Billboard Global 200 chart, meaning that it regularly is one of the most listened to songs on the entire planet. In 2024, the music video for the song notched its 1 billionth view on YouTube. After less than a decade of its second life, "Africa" had earned millions of dollars, so many that it was certified diamond by the RIAA for sales of 10 million equivalent copies.