Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. There have been plenty of mighty successful duos in show biz history. One person without the other would be unthinkable. It's exactly the same in music. Some singing duos have been truly epic.
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The 1980s featured amazing pairings such as (Daryl) Hall & (John) Oates, Wham!, Tears for Fears, and Eurythmics. They achieved insane commercial success while always continuing to hone their artistry. Their hits kept on comin' for years. The tunes they cranked out were delightfully funky, inventive, and timeless. After all, who can forget mammoth blockbusters like "Maneater" (1982) or "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1983)?
Hall & Oates
These guys were incredible. Hall and Oates produced smash hits, one right after the other, with apparent ease. They seemed to know just what the public wanted from them. Their great songs from the 1980s included "Kiss on My List," "Out of Touch," "Private Eyes," and "You Make My Dreams." Each one was a real gem.
Per their website, "Signed to Atlantic by Ahmet Ertegun in the early 1970s, Daryl Hall & John Oates have sold more records than any other duo in music history...By 1984, the R.I.A.A. recognized Daryl Hall and John Oates as the number-one selling duo in music history, a record they still hold today." They got into the Songwriters Hall of Fame 22 years ago, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame eleven years ago.
These singers have been embroiled in a thorny legal skirmish over the rights to their songs, per Wide Open Country. Don't expect to see them sharing a stage again anytime soon, if ever. Per the outlet via Rolling Stone, John Oates said, "As far as I'm concerned, I've moved on. I feel like I have a new lease on my creative life...."
Wham!
According to IMDb, "Wham! were the biggest-selling pop musicians of the 1980s and one of the first internationally successful Boy Bands." Comprised of two British school buddies, Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael, they chalked up hits like "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper." Britannica stated that Wham! was part of the Second British Invasion of pop groups that included the Police, Duran Duran, and the Human League. The duo was only active for five years, from 1981 to 1986. The advent of MTV helped to propel Wham! to superstardom. Sadly, George Michael passed away at 53 in 2016.
Tears for Fears
Songs such as "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" helped Tears for Fears soar to fame and fortune. Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal got acquainted as kids in Bath, England, per allmusic,com. They turned out to be a winning musical combination. Their sophomore album, Songs from the Big Chair, in 1985, was a monster success for the duo. The outlet called it "a huge hit in America, rocketing to the top of the charts...." Smith and Orzabal went their separate ways in 1990, got back together ten years later ,and have toured since then.
Eurythmics
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart made loads of beautiful music together. Eurythmics was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame five years ago and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Both were well-deserved honors after years of pushing musical boundaries and creating their own cultural path. Per the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website, "Employing the mechanistic funk of Krautrock, the grit of gospel, and the strangeness of psychedelia, Eurythmics' genre- and gender-fluid pop vision was both futuristic and beholden to past eras while remaining eminently accessible."
