Here's a few favourites of mine ...


The Everly Brothers
Their 1984 album 'EB 84' gave them their first hit since 1968 with the Paul McCartney penned 'On the Wings of A Nightingale'.  The song was produced by Dave Edmunds, who also appears with McCartney as additional guitarists.  The album itself was produced by Edmunds and also features contributions from Jeff Lynne and Pete 'Eighteen With A Bullet' Wingfield

The Band
Originally reforming in 1983 without Robbie Robertson, they performed live shows for several years until finally releasing the album 'Jericho' in 1993.  The single 'Remedy' became a Top 40 hit in Canada, their first since 1978's 'Out of the Blue'

New Order
In 2001, they released the album 'Get Ready', their first since 1993's 'Republic'.  The album's lead single 'Crystal' became a smash hit around the world, and to me remains their best ever single

Bananarama
Say what you will, but their 2005 album 'Drama' was awesome.  The singles 'Move in My Direction' and 'Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)' both cracked the UK Top 40, giving them their first UK chart single since 1993

A-ha
In 2000, they released the album 'Minor Earth Major Sky', their first since 1993's 'Memorial Beach'.  The lead single 'Summer Moved On' hit #1 in their homeland (Norway), #33 in the UK and even became a surprise hit in Canada where it reached #18

  Tina Turner.  Because she came back and she rocked and stuff...

The bee Gees came back with a completely differnet style to their huge hits of the late 60's/early 70's.

Rick Springfield also had a succesful album several years prior to releasing Jesse's Girl.

Here's a few favourites of mine ...


The Everly Brothers
Their 1984 album 'EB 84' gave them their first hit since 1968 with the Paul McCartney penned 'On the Wings of A Nightingale'.  The song was produced by Dave Edmunds, who also appears with McCartney as additional guitarists.  The album itself was produced by Edmunds and also features contributions from Jeff Lynne and Pete 'Eighteen With A Bullet' Wingfield

The Band
Originally reforming in 1983 without Robbie Robertson, they performed live shows for several years until finally releasing the album 'Jericho' in 1993.  The single 'Remedy' became a Top 40 hit in Canada, their first since 1978's 'Out of the Blue'

New Order
In 2001, they released the album 'Get Ready', their first since 1993's 'Republic'.  The album's lead single 'Crystal' became a smash hit around the world, and to me remains their best ever single

Bananarama
Say what you will, but their 2005 album 'Drama' was awesome.  The singles 'Move in My Direction' and 'Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)' both cracked the UK Top 40, giving them their first UK chart single since 1993

A-ha
In 2000, they released the album 'Minor Earth Major Sky', their first since 1993's 'Memorial Beach'.  The lead single 'Summer Moved On' hit #1 in their homeland (Norway), #33 in the UK and even became a surprise hit in Canada where it reached #18



Apart from the Everly Brothers ("On The Wings of a Nightingale" peaking at #4), none of these comebacks were successfull in The Netherlands.

How about Take That?

Left for dead by the turn of last century...now look at 'em!  ::)

the comeback of Yes in the 1980s was quite impressive in my opinion, although it was kinda short-lived.

How about Take That?

Left for dead by the turn of last century...now look at 'em!  ::)


Their comeback was also successful in Canada as well.  Somehow though, they skipped the USA completely this time around.  Perhaps they could not accept them without Robbie LOL

Back in their heyday, Barlow's vocals pretty much overpowered everyone else.  As a member of Take That, Robbie Williams was pretty much a background vocalist lol

Their comeback was also successful in Canada as well.  Somehow though, they skipped the USA completely this time around.  Perhaps they could not accept them without Robbie LOL

I don't think they ever accepted them with him on board!

Back in their heyday, Barlow's vocals pretty much overpowered everyone else.  As a member of Take That, Robbie Williams was pretty much a background vocalist lol


Begs the question what the rest of 'em do! Make up the numbers?

Didn't Mariah have a bit of a comeback a while ago, after she went a bit 'funny'?

Didn't Mariah have a bit of a comeback a while ago, after she went a bit 'funny'?


She's always been a bit 'funny', IMO!  ::) :P

Well, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel and Steve Winwood all seemed to disappear for clips of 5 or 6 years and come back pretty strong. But I am not sure if those qualify as comebacks.

The biggest comeback I can think of is Cher.  She was a 70s icon, re-emerged in the late 80s with ROCK hits, then AGAIN in the late 90s with DANCE hits.

Duran Duran had a great comeback in 1993 with the beautiful songs "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone." Their popularity had been in decline since their heyday in the early to mid 80s. "Ordinary World" is still one of my favourite songs.

I'm with Davester, the best is definitely Tina!  She didn't just come back, she came back bigger than ever!  In 1982 she was all but forgotten.  In 1984, she's a superstar!  Not just any performer could do what Tina did!
:)

Another great comeback was Paul Simon with "Graceland." 

Paul had a core of fans who would always buy his records.  He could have easily accepted an appointment in the ranks of pop-star emeritus like James Taylor, Carly Simon, John Phillips, and others of that generation.  It looked like that's where he was going when "Hearts and Bones" (1983) went only to number 35 in Billboard and produced no top 40 hits.  "Hearts and Bones" didn't even go gold. 

So what?  Paul was more than comfortable.  He could have kept penning his folk-pop songs and playing for adoring fans.  Not Paul Simon, no sir!
He went to Africa and explored the music of sub-Saharan lands.  From there he put together a little record called "Graceland," which went to number 3 on the charts, sold over 5 million copies, and helped popularize what we now call "world music."
Certainly "Afro-Pop" had been around since the '70s with artists such as King Sunny Ade and Fela Kuti, but these guys were limited to a college radio audience, especially in the U.S.  Simon really broke the "South African Homeland" sound in America. 

There was the huge comeback of Aerosmith in the mid 80s after they appeared in Run DMC's video for "Walk this Way." Aerosmith were huge in the 70s, but internal problems led to the band slipping into obscurity in the 80s. When Run DMC did a cover of the old Aerosmith song "Walk this Way" in 1986, they got the members of Aerosmith to make a guest appearance in the video. Aside from putting Aerosmith back in the limelight, that song helped hip hop music achieve mainstream popularity. Aerosmith's next album Permanent Vacation was an enormous success as a result.

Yeah, there were TONS of comeback artists/bands in the '80s and 90s, you don't really see that much anymore, at least not on the same scale. It was one thing if they had adult contemporary hits (like Rod Stewart), but sometimes middle aged artists came back with pop or rock songs that were just as popular as anything they did before, sometimes even BIGGER.

I wonder if the early MTV era had alot of that because of music videos, I'm sure that was at least a part of it. The '80s comebacks basically could be anything catchy with synths and a video...and that was all kinds of styles. The '90s comebacks (besides AC stuff) was more veteran rockers like Aerosmith.


Anyway...are we talking "best" like the most remarkable or personal favorites?

"Green Day's" comeback in late 2004-mid 2005 was a great comeback. The had their best selling album since 1994's smash "Dookie" in "American Idiot" which sold 4 million copies. Their single "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ironically Mariah Carey's(another famed 90's artist)comeback which was mentioned in previous posts on this thread came around kind of the same time as Green Day's. Green Day's comeback kind of pushed them away from just being a 1990's band label.

Kylie Minogue's comeback in the US came out of nowhere in 2002(absoulutely nowhere.) In 2001 in the US she was labled as a 1980's flash in the pan.The 2002 hits in the US were "Getta Outta My Head", "Love At First Sight", and "Come Into My World".

There was the huge comeback of Aerosmith in the mid 80s after they appeared in Run DMC's video for "Walk this Way." Aerosmith were huge in the 70s, but internal problems led to the band slipping into obscurity in the 80s. When Run DMC did a cover of the old Aerosmith song "Walk this Way" in 1986, they got the members of Aerosmith to make a guest appearance in the video. Aside from putting Aerosmith back in the limelight, that song helped hip hop music achieve mainstream popularity. Aerosmith's next album Permanent Vacation was an enormous success as a result.


Aerosmith is definitely a great comeback success. 

It seems like their career died out in the early '80s because of drugs and in-fighting more than anything.  Once they decided to get their act together again, there were hordes of fans who grew up listening to "Dream On" and "Walk this Way."  The Aerosmith hits of the '70s never lost rotation on hard rock radio.  A 13-year-old listening to WROC in 1984 got to discover Aerosmith for himself and was a ready customer for "Permanent Vacation" a few years later.

The B-52's made a huge comeback.  They weren't the same band, IMO, after Ricky Wilson died in 1985, but they continued making music.  I would not have guessed "Loveshack" and "Roam" would have been so huge in 1989.

Duran Duran had a great comeback in 1993 with the beautiful songs "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone." Their popularity had been in decline since their heyday in the early to mid 80s. "Ordinary World" is still one of my favourite songs.


That's one of my favorites too.

There was the comeback by Meat Loaf in 1993 with the Bat Out of Hell II album. The original Bat Out of Hell album in 1977 was one of the biggest albums of all time, but Meat Loaf's subsequent work in the 80s was much less well received. Bat Out of Hell II put Meat Loaf back on the map.






Kylie Minogue's comeback in the US came out of nowhere in 2002(absoulutely nowhere.) In 2001 in the US she was labled as a 1980's flash in the pan.The 2002 hits in the US were "Getta Outta My Head", "Love At First Sight", and "Come Into My World".


Actually, the song was called "Can't Get You Out of My Head." Kylie Minogue's debut album in 1988 might have been her only previous hit in the US, but she released six albums between 1989 and 2000 that did fairly well in Britain and Australia, so I don't know if 2002's Fever counts as a "comeback."

   Tina Turner.  Because she came back and she rocked and stuff...



Totally agree. I would also have to say Cher.



Cat

Duran Duran had a great comeback in 1993 with the beautiful songs "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone." Their popularity had been in decline since their heyday in the early to mid 80s. "Ordinary World" is still one of my favourite songs.


I thought that was a great comeback for Duran Duran, too. Both "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" are among my absolute favorite songs of the 90's.  :)

Carlos Santana came back in 1999 with the album Supernatural. Carlos Santana made a name for himself in the 70s with his high energy guitar playing, but his popularity started to wane in the 80s, and by the 90s, one might have thought his career was all but over. But he completely re-invented himself with Supernatural, collaborating with a wide variety of performers for each song and letting their styles mix with his own. The lead single "Smooth," a duet with Rob Thomas, quickly caught people's attention and was a huge hit. Supernatural would go on to become the most successful album of Santana's career, winning the Grammy award for best album, with "Smooth" winning for song of the year and record of the year.