The 10 Best Rock Music Videos of the '80s, Ranked

Published Sep 7, 2026, 5:46 PM EDT

Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies.

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In the 1980s, rock and roll evolved with a new form thanks to MTV and music videos. Suddenly, music was no longer restrained to our radios. Fans could now see their favorite acts as they really looked, whether it be in a more normal concert-type video, or something more artistic. Without music videos, it's hard to imagine so many 80s rock bands having the same level of success. Because of MTV, rock, while often still serious, was allowed to become more fun. Moving images on a TV screen only enhanced the enjoyment. There were plenty of iconic rock-centric music videos of the decades, such as Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" and A-Ha's "Take on Me," but because they are more pop focused, our list will limit itself to the rock and roll that defined an era.

10 "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard (1987)

British band Def Leppard were one of the biggest rock bands of the 80s, a fun group of energy and big hair who escaped the trappings of "hair bands" with great music. They were never bigger than in 1987 thanks to their hit album Hysteria. The third single, "Pour Some Sugar on Me," took them to new heights thanks to the simple yet effective video that went with it. As the song plays, we see the band in an empty arena prior to the show before performing in front of an adoring crowd. Accompanied by black and white practice shots, "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is all dance energy that didn't need a gimmick for the video.

9 "Jump" by Van Halen (1984)

As big as Def Leppard was in the 80s, Van Halen was even bigger. They were carried by the same sort of free, energetic style, but with the added dimension of Eddie Van Halen's guitar wizardry and David Lee Roth's immense charisma. Their fifth album, 1984, and the last with Roth, was welcomed to the world with the release of "Jump." The song, about finding hope during hopeless times, speaks for itself. The performance video, which has the band performing for the camera, sucks in the viewer. It's a concert for one, with each member getting their own time to shine. "Jump" just screams 80s glory.

8 "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses (1987)

Guns N' Roses had the big hair of 80s bands, but with an added grit and danger. Their 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction, made them instant legends, with one radio smash after another. For the most intense song and video, look no further than their huge breakthrough, "Welcome to the Jungle." Interspersed with performance shots, the video shows Axl Rose stepping off a bus in LA, a man new in town. Now in the jungle of seedy Los Angeles, Rose transforms, his hair blossoming alongside his attitude. From his bed, he watches TV screens of destruction, including one where he writhes around in pain, forced to take part in what he doesn't want to become. In one video, a new rock god was born.

7 "Don't Come Around Here No More" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1985)

Tom Petty didn't need music videos to hit it big. He was a known name long before the format took off, but music videos gave him and his band, The Heartbreakers, another dimension with a new creative outlet. Their sixth album, Southern Accents, is highlighted by "Don't Come Around Here No More." The video is an ode to Alice in Wonderland, with Petty, clad in a big top hat and bow tie, as the Mad Hatter. In exaggerated rooms, he sings to Alice, played by singer Louise Foley. The video's controversial ending, which shows Alice being turned into a cake and eaten by Petty, riled up some in the 80s, but the effects were stunning, resulting in an MTV Video Music Awards win for Best Special Effects.

6 "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits (1985)

Dire Straits had been putting out music for years before their fifth album, Brother in Arms, hit shelves in 1985. It's that album which took the band to a new level thanks to the success of the music video for arguably their biggest hit, "Money for Nothing." The song, with lyrics about how rock stars seems to have it so easy, is a masterpiece on its own, but its themes were just begging for a video. After all, it starts with the repeated lyrics of "I want my MTV." As the music swells, a blocky, computer-animated man is sucked into the video. It tells the story of working-class men wishing they could have the lazy lifestyle of the rich and famous. The style looks dated now, but in 1985, it was jaw-dropping.

5 "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top (1983)

Thanks to the long beards of two of its members, few bands are as recognizable as ZZ Top. Hailing from Houston, Texas, and formed all the way back in the 1960s, ZZ Top hit the main stream with their 1983 album Eliminator. Known for radio staples such as "Gimme All Your Lovin" and "Legs," it's "Sharp Dressed Man" that's the coolest of the bunch thanks to an equally cool music video. Continuing on from the video for "Gimme All Your Lovin," a stressed-out valet transforms when given the keys to the band's cool car. With beautiful women on his arm, he finds his freedom, dancing the night away as the band plays on stage.

4 "Land of Confusion" by Genesis (1986)

Forget Michael Jackson's "Thriller," Genesis' "Land of Confusion" is the most terrifying music video ever made. The second single from their 1986 album Invisible Touch is pure nightmare fuel. It begins with exaggerated puppet forms of President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan in bed with a chimpanzee between them. As the Commander in Chief falls asleep, he dreams of marching feet in the mud plucking out bodiless heads. While puppet caricatures of the band plays, Ronnie wakes up and dresses up as Superman as 80s despots are shown on video. This leads to a benefit song, Reagan in the middle of it all, a hero in his own head, but nearly drowning in his own sweat. The themes tie into the political anxiety of time with images that will haunt your dreams too.

3 "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake (1987)

Whitesnake, led by singer David Coverdale, oozed sex appeal, and there's no better example of it than on their biggest hit, 1987's "Here I Go Again." The message of the song is easy to understand, with Coverdale brokenhearted over the loneliness of a breakup. However, what could have been a downer is transformed by the energy of its accompanying music video. Between the usual performance shots with the band, model Tawny Kitaen, then Coverdale's girlfriend, and later his wife for a short time, dances to the rhythm in slow motion on two Jaguars. Her moves got the attention of every teenage boy watching MTV. Kitaen was a pop culture star of the moment, so much so that Bowling for Soup, in their 2025 song "1985", sang about a modern woman's past dreams, including the lyric, "She was gonna shake her ass on the hood of Whitesnake's car."

2 "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister (1984)

The mid 1980s were a strange time for teenagers. Wanting to be free, they were restrained by the conservative moment of Ronald Reagan's America, which warned against the evils of rock and roll. Enter Twisted Sister with a perfect anthem against the powers that be. On "We're Not Gonna Take It," Dee Snider and company spoke to the disaffected kids who refused to be held down any longer. The music video only adds to the lyrics, with a kid pretending to rock out on his guitar when his angry father walks and yells, "What do you want to do with your life?" Confident, the kid says," I wanna rock." He then spins and turns into the glam lead singer, before going downstairs and converting his brothers to rise up and join him. In four minutes, every kid who felt like they didn't belong suddenly did.

Metallica's music videos have often employed dark images to go along with their just as dark lyrics, but they were never more haunting than on 1988's "One," the third single and biggest hit from ...And Justice for All. As the song builds in energy, images of the band playing cut to scenes from the movie Johnny Got His Gun. The clips center on a seriously injured solider now bound to a bed unable to see, move, or speak. He's a man trapped inside the terror of his own body, wishing for death. "Now the world is gone, I'm just one," James Hetfield snarls over the imagery. This soldier is one in his own lonely world, just like the people we send off to needless wars who come so often don't return the same. "One" is an intense song and an equally intense and impossible to dismiss music video.