The track reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, topped charts in several countries, and helped launch Starship into a new era. Yet decades later, it also earned an entirely different reputation after being labeled the "worst song of all time" by major publications and readers' polls.
Released on Aug. 26, 1985, as the lead single from Starship's debut album Knee Deep in the Hoopla, "We Built This City" became an instant commercial success. It climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and later reached the top spot in Australia and Canada while landing inside the Top 10 in several European countries.
American hard rock band Starship posed for a group portrait in Los Angeles, California, in February 1980.Photo by Bonnie Schiffman/Getty Images
Despite its chart dominance, the song's legacy has remained deeply divided.
Taupin later explained that the original demo had a much darker tone before producer Peter Wolf reshaped it into the polished pop-rock version that audiences came to know.
When it debuted, industry publications welcomed the single.
Cash Box praised it as "an ear-catching tune" with "dance rock with sharp hooks."
Starship's album Knee Deep in the Hoopla went platinum and produced another Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 with "Sara," making it one of the band's most commercially successful releases.
In 2004, Blender magazine ranked "We Built This City" No. 1 on its list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever." Editor Craig Marks explained the decision by saying, "It purports to be anti-commercial but reeks of '80s corporate-rock commercialism. It's a real reflection of what practically killed rock music in the '80s."
In 2016, GQ went even further, calling it the "worst song of all time" and publishing an oral history that explored the song's success and the backlash surrounding it.
The song continues to receive radio airplay, appears in commercials, and remains one of the most recognizable rock singles of the 1980s. In 2018, British creator LadBaby even adapted it into the charity single "We Built This City on Sausage Rolls," which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.
Related: 1983 Rock Song, Lasting Nearly 12 Minutes, Is Still a Powerful Hit 43 Years Later
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