Top 10 Huey Lewis And The News Songs

Photo: Howard Brier from Brooklyn, USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Huey Lewis and the News Songs list looks back on the career of one of the most popular bands of the 1980s. While the group has continued to perform well into the 2010s, their musical legacy was defined by their chart success in the 1980s, especially between 1983 and 1986. The band’s sound, fueled by a group of musicians that could play with the best of them, was fronted by a singer whose appearance contradicted the hair band’s 1980s look. Huey Lewis looked more like a dude you would meet at the racetrack than a man fronting a rock and roll band. And that was what we loved about him.

Huey Lewis and the News released their first album, entitled Huey Lewis and the News, in 1980. Two years later, the band became a household name when they released their second album, entitled Picture This. The album yielded the top 10 single “Do You Believe In Love.” As the MTV era began to infiltrate homes across America, the band found their song “Working For A Living” from Picture This in heavy rotation on the channel. Four singles were released from the album, making the record a huge success story. The band had no idea how popular they were about to become on their next record.

At the end of the summer of 1983, Huey Lewis and the News released their soon-to-be legendary album entitled Sports. The album yielded five singles. Four of those singles would reach the Billboard top 10. The first single released from the album, entitled “Heart and Soul,” went all the way to number one on the U.S. mainstream rock charts. 1984 was an incredible year for music. Some of the biggest albums of the 1980s were released that year, including Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A, Prince’s Purple Rain , Van Halen’s 1984 , and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Couldn’t Stand The Weather.

Huey Lewis and the News followed up the Sports album with two songs on the Back To The Future soundtrack. One of those songs hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song “Power of Love” became one of the band’s biggest-selling songs. On a soundtrack album that also featured Eric Clapton, Lindsey Buckingham, and Etta James, the material Huey Lewis and the News contributed proved most successful.

The band’s full-length follow-up to Sports , titled Fore! , was released in 1986. Once again, Huey Lewis and the News found tremendous success on the music charts with six singles released from the album. Two of the singles, “Stuck With You” and “Jacob’s Ladder,” reached number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100.

In 1988, the band released the album Small World. The album showcased a more mature sound for the band. The album still did well commercially and yielded a top 10 hit with the song “Perfect World.” However, the band’s domination of the music charts would soon come to an end.

Huey Lewis and the News released only two more studio albums of original material after Small World. In 1991, the band released Hard at Play. Ten years later, they released the album Plan B.

On many of our lists, we usually focus on a combination of the hits and deep tracks. However, Huey Lewis and the News had too many top 10 hits in the 1980s to ignore. Consequently, this Top 10 Huey Lewis and the News songs list is loaded with hits. If you were around back then and conscious, you know them all. If not, we hope this Huey Lewis and the News songs list turns you on to some great pop tunes from bands that actually played their instruments and singers who recorded vocals without any of that autotune nonsense. This is the real deal!

# 10 – Working For A Living

We open our Top 10 Huey Lewis and the News Songs list with the great MTV hit Working For A Living. The song was released on the band’s second album, Picture This. It was the fourth single released from the album. One can hear elements of the new wave scene in the song’s arrangement.

# 9 – Perfect World

The song “Perfect World” was the lead single from the band’s Small World album. The record was released in 1988. The song hit number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. I always thought this was a really underrated Huey Lewis album. The production was amazing, the songs were well written, and the band was on fire. Just because it wasnt fueled by big-time hits like the previous albums had been didn’t mean it was any less of a record. This is a good one.

# 8 – Hip To Be Square

The great Huey Lewis and the News song “Hip To Be Square” was released on Fore! album in 1986. Once again, the band found themselves with a top 10 hit as “Hip To Be Square” reached the number three position on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also hit number one on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.

# 7 – Doing It All For My Baby

What many fans loved about Huey Lewis and the News was their ability to produce songs that shared the same characteristics as the great pop records of the 1950s and 1960s. Somewhere in between The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Platters was the sound of Huey Lewis and the News. Their 1987 hit “Doing It All For My Baby” defines just what we are talking about.

# 6 – Do You Believe In Love

The famous Huey Lewis and the News song “Do You Believe In Love” was the band’s first big hit. Written by Robert (Mutt) Lange, it reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was released on the band’s second album, Picture This.

# 5 – Heart and Soul

“Heart and Soul” was the first single released from the Sports album in 1983. It was the first of four singles to reach the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100 charts and also hit number one on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts. That pulsating drum-and-bass beat that represented a beating heart was just so brilliant.

# 4 – Stuck With You

The great track “Stuck With You” was released on the album Fore! It was issued as the first single from the album. The song was a smash hit for the band, spending three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This was definitely a fan-favorite video from a band that made so many great ones in the 1980s.

# 3 – I Want A New Drug

As far as groove goes, this one wins the award in that category. The excellent track “I Want A New Drug” was released on the Sports album. The song hit number six on the Billboard Hot 100. It is one of only two songs that the band released that went Gold in the United States. The other was the song “Power Of Love” from the Back To The Future Soundtrack.

# 2 – If This Is It

Another great Huey Lewis and the News video accompanied the band’s fourth single from the Sports album. We have placed this one in the number two spot because the hook is simply too good to die for. It is a fabulous Huey Lewis and the News song that defined their great summer sound.

# 1 – The Power Of Love

1985 was a good year for Mr. Huey Lewis. Not only did he and his band achieve their first number-one singles, but Huey Lewis also played a role in the Back To The Future film. The song “Power of Love” was featured in the movie. Its inclusion in the film undoubtedly helped the song reach number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot 100 Mainstream Rock Tracks.

With so many hits and great album tracks, it was tough to choose a Huey Lewis and the News song for the number-one spot. What probably won us over on this song is the tune’s fabulous bridge. If we were teaching a course on writing a bridge in a pop song, the bridge in “The Power Of Love” would be a great example. Everything about “The Power of Love” was perfect. The “Power of Love” had a great intro, strong verse, killer hook, fabulous bridge, perfect guitar solo, and a slamming lead vocal. It pretty much sums up most of the band’s songs, too.

Updated February 17, 2026

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