4 Songs From the 1980s That Reference Celebrities

It’s not uncommon for artists to reference other famous people in their music. Here are some 80s songs that sing about celebrities, whether it’s to make a statement, or give someone a shout.

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“We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel

In this anthemic chant-song, Billy Joel references several celebrities throughout, so it’s hard to pick out just one lyric. A few of the names The Piano Man lists are Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly. He also lists politicians like Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and JFK.

Joel shared in a Q&A session that he’d written the song close to his 40th birthday, feeling inspired by a conversation he’d had with a kid who’d just turned 21. The two of them were talking about being 21 during their respective timelines, and the kid started talking about how hard it was to grow up amidst the political and social issues at the time.

Joel shared of the conversation, “And he said, ‘It’s different for you because you were a kid in the 50s, and everybody knows that nothing happened in the 50s.’ Joel continued, “And I started to write these things out, almost like an exercise, and I started to get this idea for a song.”

That’s why Billy makes so many Cold War references and lists so many names in “We Didn’t Start The Fire”.

“This Note’s For You” by Neil Young

No celebrities are directly mentioned in this song, but they almost don’t need to be. In “This Note’s For You”, Young calls out celebrities who were making a buck through television ads at the time. The title was even a spin-off of a Budweiser ad campaign: “This Bud’s For You.” In his music video for the song, the rocker also does recreations of popular ads that Eric Clapton and Michael Jackson had done, as he boldly declares:

“Ain’t singin’ for Pepsi / Ain’t singin’ for Coke / I don’t sing for nobody / Makes me look like a joke / This note’s for you.”

“Genius Of Love” by Tom Tom Club

If you’ve heard Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” or “Big Energy” by Big Latto, you’ve already heard this song without knowing it. While it’s been sampled by several artists since then, this tune was originally a disco hit in 1981 for Tom Tom Club. Except, back then they were known as Talking Heads. The song’s lyrics reference popular Black musicians like George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Bob Marley. There’s more than one lyric where people are named, but here’s a big section:

“I’m in Heaven / With the maven of funk mutation / Clinton’s musicians, such as Bootsy Collins / Raise expectations to a new intention / No one can sing / Quite like Smokey, Smokey Robinson / Wailin’ and skankin’ to Bob Marley / Reggae’s expanding with Sly and Robbie.”

“Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes

As far as songs that reference celebrities go, this one is a staple. Especially because the writers, Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, were directly inspired by Bette Davis, a popular 30s actress. In her later years, Davis even commented on how cool it was to have her name in a hit song.

“Well, I was flabbergasted,” she shared in a 1987 interview. “I thought it was fun, and I thought the words were pretty terrific.” According to Davis, the song even got her in her grandson’s good graces.

“The big, the big thriller that was the reaction of my grandson, Ashley, that his grandmother was in the rock and roll area, with a record,” she shared. “He looked at me completely differently from then on.”

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