Billie Jean — Michael Jackson (1982)

Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," released in 1982, features one of the 1980s' most iconic bass lines, serving as the foundation for a paranoid funk masterpiece that redefined pop music. The song spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983, becoming Jackson's biggest solo hit and one of the best-selling singles of that year. The track is also notable as the song to which Jackson debuted his iconic moonwalk during the *Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever* TV special in May 1983. "Billie Jean" has continued to receive critical acclaim, ranking at number 44 on Rolling Stone's updated 2021 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." More than four decades after its release, in May 2026, "Billie Jean" surged on streaming platforms globally, becoming Jackson's first number-one single on the Billboard Global 200 chart.