Surviving the ’80s

"As far as music critics were concerned," he said, "I was about as welcome as a hole in a parachute."

By the time this decade was drawing to a close, they were barely left standing.

Steve Winwood didn’t just survive the ’80s, he conquered the decade.

The '80s started off promisingly enough for Black Sabbath, but then they suffered through a merry-go-round of lineup changes.

Heavy metal has been going strong since the '70s, but if you look purely at the sales figures, the style enjoyed its commercial peak during the '80s.

There wasn’t a band filled with more uncertainty entering the '80s than Aerosmith.

After having established a dedicated following with a five-album run that kicked off with their 1971 debut, ZZ Top entered the '80s with no idea that their fortunes would turn in a big way.

By the time the ’80s arrived, the Beatles had been broken up for a decade.

Chicago owned the '70s with a string of hit singles and multi-platinum LPs that made them one of the most commercially successful American bands of all time.

As the dawn of the '80s drew near, Ozzy Osbourne was hardly in a good place financially, mentally or otherwise.