80s R&B Playlist

80s R&B — Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. This set covers the 1980s.

🔒 The top 10 are this genre's must-play anthems — the biggest hits no DJ leaves out — so they stay pinned. Tap 🔀 and everything from #11 down refreshes into a fresh mix (from a pool of 200).

1. Never Too Much — Luther Vandross
2. Rhythm Of The Night — DeBarge
3. Billie Jean — Michael Jackson
4. Smooth Operator — Sade
5. Give Me the Night — George Benson
6. Kiss — Prince
7. All Night Long (All Night) — Lionel Richie
8. Sexual Healing — Marvin Gaye
9. Ain't Nobody — Chaka Khan
10. Forget Me Nots — Patrice Rushen
11. Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) — Billy Ocean
12. I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) — Daryl Hall & John Oates
13. I Feel for You — Chaka Khan
14. Love Come Down — Evelyn "champagne" King
15. Hang On to Your Love — Sade
16. Shake You Down — Gregory Abbott
17. Little Red Corvette — Prince
18. Let's Hear It for the Boy — Deniece Williams
19. Candy — Cameo
20. Get Down On It — Kool & The Gang
21. Juicy Fruit — Mtume
22. When I Think Of You — Janet Jackson
23. Purple Rain — Prince
24. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough — Michael Jackson
25. Thriller — Michael Jackson
26. Beat It — Michael Jackson
27. Maneater — Daryl Hall & John Oates
28. Say You, Say Me — Lionel Richie
29. I Wanna Be Your Lover — Prince
30. You Make My Dreams (Come True) — Daryl Hall & John Oates
31. The Sweetest Taboo — Sade
32. Through the Fire — Chaka Khan
33. Nothing Can Come Between Us — Sade
34. Private Eyes — Daryl Hall & John Oates
35. I'm In Love — Evelyn "champagne" King
36. A House Is Not a Home — Luther Vandross
37. Rhythm Nation — Janet Jackson
38. Truly — Lionel Richie
39. There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) — Billy Ocean
40. Here and Now — Luther Vandross
41. In Your Eyes — George Benson
42. Love Zone — Billy Ocean
43. For You to Love — Luther Vandross
44. Who's Holding Donna Now? — DeBarge
45. All This Love — DeBarge
46. Stay With Me — DeBarge
47. Miss You Much — Janet Jackson
48. Let's Groove — Earth, Wind & Fire
49. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? — Rod Stewart
50. Lovely Day — Bill Withers
51. Upside Down — Diana Ross
52. Return of the Mack — Mark Morrison
53. You Get What You Give — New Radicals
54. What's Love Got to Do with It — Tina Turner
55. Cruel Summer — Bananarama
56. Don't You Want Me — The Human League
57. Smooth (feat. Rob Thomas) — Santana
58. You Should Be Dancing — Bee Gees
59. September — Earth, Wind & Fire
60. West End Girls — Pet Shop Boys
61. Got to Be Real — Cheryl Lynn
62. I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near) — Michael McDonald
63. She Drives Me Crazy — Fine Young Cannibals
64. Solid — Ashford & Simpson
65. Sweet Love — Anita Baker
66. Boogie Wonderland — Earth, Wind & Fire
67. Dreams — Fleetwood Mac
68. Private Dancer — Tina Turner
69. Let's Dance — David Bowie
70. Give It To Me Baby — Rick James
71. Make That Move — Shalamar
72. Right Back Where We Started From — Maxine Nightingale
73. Give It Up — Kc & The Sunshine Band
74. I.O.U. — Freeez
75. Play That Funky Music — Wild Cherry
76. You Sexy Thing — Hot Chocolate
77. A Night To Remember — Shalamar
78. How Will I Know — Whitney Houston
79. Party All the Time — Eddie Murphy
80. What a Fool Believes — The Doobie Brothers
81. She's A Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked) — Carl Carlton
82. Super Freak — Rick James
83. Let It Whip — Dazz Band
84. Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) — Soul II Soul
85. Nightshift — Commodores
86. Greatest Love of All — Whitney Houston
87. I Can Make You Feel Good — Shalamar
88. Ain't Nobody (Live) — Rufus
89. Caught Up in the Rapture — Anita Baker
90. Easy Lover — Philip Bailey
91. Saving All My Love for You — Whitney Houston
92. Somebody's Watching Me — Rockwell
93. Edge of Seventeen — Stevie Nicks
94. If You Let Me Stay — Sananda Maitreya
95. Hangin' On A String (Contemplating) — Loose Ends
96. Fire And Desire — Rick James
97. Automatic — The Pointer Sisters
98. What Cha' Gonna Do for Me — Chaka Kahn
99. Happy — Surface
100. Ooo La La La — Teena Marie

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