TL;DR. Eighty music trivia questions sorted by decade, from the 1960s to the 2010s. Each decade gets ~13 questions across artists, albums, lyrics, and Billboard charts. Mix-and-match for a balanced round, or play decade-by-decade for a themed night.
1960s (12 questions)
Which Beatles album was released in 1967 with a famous album cover featuring cardboard cut-outs? Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club BandWho sang “Respect” (1967)? Aretha FranklinWhat was Bob Dylan’s 1965 album that famously included “Like a Rolling Stone”? Highway 61 RevisitedWhich 1969 festival is considered the iconic counterculture event? WoodstockWhich Motown group recorded “My Girl”? The TemptationsWho is the “King of Rock and Roll”? Elvis PresleyWhich Beach Boys 1966 album is often called one of the greatest albums of all time? Pet SoundsWho wrote “Bridge Over Troubled Water”? Paul SimonWhich Janis Joplin band recorded “Piece of My Heart”? Big Brother and the Holding CompanyWhich Hendrix performance closed Woodstock 1969? The Star-Spangled BannerWhat was the first Beatles US #1 single? “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1964)Who recorded “Good Vibrations”? The Beach Boys1970s (13 questions)
Which band released “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 1975? QueenWho is the lead singer of Led Zeppelin? Robert PlantWhich 1976 Eagles album holds one of the highest US sales records? Hotel CaliforniaWho sang “I Will Survive” (1978)? Gloria GaynorWhat was Pink Floyd’s 1973 concept album about modern life? The Dark Side of the MoonWhich Stevie Wonder album included “Sir Duke” and “Isn’t She Lovely”? Songs in the Key of Life (1976)Which Bee Gees album was the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever? Saturday Night Fever (1977)Who recorded “Imagine” (1971)? John LennonWhich Bowie persona was active in 1972’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust”? Ziggy StardustWho sang “Dancing Queen”? ABBAWhich band’s 1971 song is “Stairway to Heaven”? Led ZeppelinWhich 1979 album by The Wall’s creators sold 30+ million copies? The Wall by Pink FloydWho sang “Killing Me Softly” (1973)? Roberta Flack1980s (13 questions)
Which Michael Jackson album from 1982 is the bestselling album of all time? ThrillerWho sang “Like a Virgin” (1984)? MadonnaWhich 1987 U2 album includes “With or Without You”? The Joshua TreeWhich band recorded “Don’t Stop Believin”? JourneyWhat was Prince’s 1984 album and film? Purple RainWho sang “Take On Me”? a-haWhich 1985 charity single featured 40+ artists for African famine relief? “We Are the World”Which Bruce Springsteen album took its title from a 1984 single? Born in the U.S.A.Whose 1987 debut album was “Appetite for Destruction”? Guns N’ RosesWho sang “Eye of the Tiger”? SurvivorWhich Madonna song was banned by MTV briefly in 1989? “Like a Prayer”What was Whitney Houston’s 1985 debut album? Whitney HoustonWho recorded “Sweet Child o’ Mine”? Guns N’ Roses1990s (13 questions)
Which Nirvana album released in 1991 changed alternative rock? NevermindWho sang “I Will Always Love You” on The Bodyguard soundtrack? Whitney HoustonWhich Spice Girl wore the Union Jack dress at the Brit Awards? Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice)What was TLC’s 1994 album with “Waterfalls”? CrazySexyCoolWho sang “Wonderwall”? OasisWhich 1995 Alanis Morissette album sold 33+ million copies? Jagged Little PillWho released “Smells Like Teen Spirit”? NirvanaWhich 1996 song by The Macarena group dominated US radio? “Macarena” by Los del RíoWhat is the name of Tupac’s posthumous 1996 album? The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day TheoryWho sang “…Baby One More Time”? Britney SpearsWhich band recorded “Creep” (1992)? RadioheadWhich boy band released “I Want It That Way”? Backstreet BoysWho recorded “California Love” with Tupac? Dr. Dre2000s (13 questions)
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Which Adele 2011 single was “Rolling in the Deep”? From the album 21Who released “Uptown Funk” (2014)? Mark Ronson feat. Bruno MarsWhich Taylor Swift album marked her pop pivot in 2014? 1989Who sang “Despacito”? Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee (and Justin Bieber on the remix)Which Beyoncé 2016 visual album includes “Formation”? LemonadeWho released “Bad Guy” (2019)? Billie EilishWhich Drake 2016 album includes “One Dance”? ViewsWho sang “Happy” (2013)? Pharrell WilliamsWhich Kendrick Lamar 2015 album won a Pulitzer? To Pimp a Butterfly (his 2017 DAMN. won the Pulitzer, actually)Who recorded “Shape of You”? Ed SheeranWhich 2014 Hozier hit was “Take Me to Church”? The single from the self-titled debut albumWho sang “Old Town Road” (2019)? Lil Nas X (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)Which BTS 2018 album was their first US #1? Love Yourself: TearWho released “Royals” (2013)? LordeWhich 2017 Cardi B song became a #1 hit? “Bodak Yellow”Who sang “Blinding Lights”? The WeekndUsing these in a round
For a 60-minute pub night, pick 10 across all decades.For a 90s-themed night, expand the 90s section with 90s trivia.For a hard round, prioritise album titles and producer/songwriter questions over hit titles.For a specific decade or artist, generate a custom round at the trivia quiz maker.
How to Host a Trivia Night90s Trivia QuestionsMovie Trivia QuestionsSports Trivia QuestionsBuild a music trivia quiz →
Turning this list into a real quiz round
A printed list is fine for reading aloud, but if you want auto-scoring, a leaderboard, or a version you can send to remote players, retype these questions into a proper quiz maker instead of running the round off a sheet of paper. It takes about ten minutes and solves three problems a paper round can't: no arguing over who buzzed in first, no manual tallying, and everyone sees their score the moment the round ends.
A decision framework for picking your format:
In-person, one host reading questions aloud — the list above works as-is. Print it, number your rounds, keep an answer sheet for scoring.In-person, but players answer on their phones — build the same 80 questions into a digital quiz and share the join link. Scoring is automatic and you can project a live leaderboard between rounds.Remote or hybrid group — a digital round is close to mandatory here. It also lets you set a per-question timer so a round doesn't stall while one player Googles "1975 Queen album."Classroom or club setting — pair the music round with a short written recap afterward; music trivia works well as a warm-up before a heavier lesson because it's low-stakes and gets everyone talking.A worked example. Say you're running a 60-minute pub night and want three rounds instead of one long list. Split the 80 questions into "Classic Rock Era" (60s–70s, 25 questions), "MTV Generation" (80s–90s, 26 questions), and "Streaming Era" (2000s–2010s, 29 questions), and award bonus points for any team that correctly names the year, not just the artist. That single tweak — asking for the year as a tiebreaker — fixes the most common pub-trivia complaint: ties at the top of the leaderboard with no clean way to break them.
Common mistakes when running a music round:
Mixing decades within a single question without saying so — players assume chronological order and get confused when a 2015 question follows a 1968 one.Reusing the same artist too many times in one round (three Beatles questions in a 12-question 60s round skews the round toward Beatles trivia, not general music history).Not writing down acceptable alternate answers in advance — "Sgt. Pepper's" vs. the full album title should both count, and that call is much easier to make before the round starts than mid-argument.If you're building trivia nights regularly — weekly pub quizzes, a recurring classroom activity, a club social — an AI quiz generator can produce a fresh decade-themed round in minutes once you've got a topic and difficulty in mind, so you're not manually writing 80 new questions every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many music trivia questions should a round have?
Most pub-style rounds run 10–15 questions and take about 10–12 minutes to read and score. For a themed night, 20–25 questions per decade keeps a segment interesting without dragging. Use the 80 questions above as a bank and pull however many fit your time slot.
Should I mix easy and hard questions in the same round?
Yes — open with two or three easy, widely-known answers (a #1 hit, a famous performer) to get every team scoring points, then increase difficulty toward the middle, and close with one or two harder questions that separate the leaders. A round that's uniformly hard from question one discourages newer or younger players before they've had a chance to get a few right.
What's the best way to score a music trivia round for a large group?
For in-person paper rounds, a simple answer key and team-swap grading works fine up to about 8–10 teams. Past that, or for anything remote, switch to a test maker or quiz platform with automatic scoring — manual tallying for 15+ teams eats into the time you could spend running the next round.
Can I use these questions for a classroom music unit instead of a pub night?
Yes. Teachers running a music history or pop-culture unit can pull the decade sections that match their curriculum — for example, the 60s and 70s questions for a rock history lesson — and turn them into a short formative quiz. See SimpleQuizMaker for teachers for classroom-specific tools like auto-graded question banks and class rosters.