Year-end consensus · Hard Rock & Metal · one countdowns combined
The best hard rock songs of 1981
One radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 1981: KISW. Combining every list, the top hard rock song of 1981 is “For Those About to Rock” by AC/DC, which appeared on one of the one countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. Journey was the year’s most-charted artist, with two different songs placing 2 times across the countdowns.
Top 100 songs of 1981
Ranked by combined points across every 1981 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | For Those About to Rock AC/DC | 1 | #1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Unchained Van Halen | 1 | #2 | – | |
| 3 | Don't Stop Believing Journey | 1 | #3 | – | |
| 4 | I Love Rock-N-Roll Joan Jett | 1 | #4 | – | |
| 5 | Centerfold J. Geils Band | 1 | #5 | – | |
| 6 | Jukebox Hero Foreigner | 1 | #6 | – | |
| 7 | The Stroke Billy Squier | 1 | #7 | – | |
| 8 | In the Air Tonight Phil Collins | 1 | #8 | – | |
| 9 | Start Me Up The Rolling Stones | 1 | #9 | – | |
| 10 | Flying High Again Ozzy Osbourne | 1 | #10 | – | |
| 11 | High N Dry Def Leppard | 1 | #11 | – | |
| 12 | Tom Sawyer Rush | 1 | #12 | – | |
| 13 | Edge of Seventeen Stevie Nicks | 1 | #13 | – | |
| 14 | The Waiting Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers | 1 | #14 | – | |
| 15 | Live Wire Motley Crue | 1 | #15 | – | |
| 16 | You Better You Bet The Who | 1 | #16 | – | |
| 17 | Who's Crying Now Journey | 1 | #17 | – | |
| 18 | Urgent Foreigner | 1 | #18 | – | |
| 19 | Shake It Up The Cars | 1 | #19 | – | |
| 20 | Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic The Police | 1 | #20 | – | |
| 21 | Stop Draggin' My Heart Around Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty | 1 | #21 | – | |
| 22 | Destroyer The Kinks | 1 | #22 | – | |
| 23 | Over the Mountain Ozzy Osbourne | 1 | #23 | – | |
| 24 | Hold On Loosely .38 Special | 1 | #24 | – | |
| 25 | Limelight Rush | 1 | #25 | – |
Every station’s number one of 1981
| Station | Number one song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|
| KISW | Limelight Rush | KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981 |
All 1981 countdowns in this ranking
About the 1981 ranking
Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 1981 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all one qualifying countdowns. Each radio format is ranked separately, so classic rock and hard rock countdowns never shift the hard rock results; use the tabs above to switch formats. Read the full methodology.