10 Amazing Rock Songs By Pop Artists

Okay...but here's where we're really starting to stretch, right? Even back in the day when Lionel Richie was one of the biggest names in music, something like Hello feels like some of the most saccharine music that would make housewives tell you to tone it down a little bit. On Running With the Night, there's a certain amount of respect to be paid to the musicians here.

And we're not just talking about Lionel here. Having been around the block a couple of times, this is where we get to see some of the hottest sessions musicians show their stuff, with Steve Lukather from Toto subbing in on lead guitar for most of the song. Then again, you wouldn't know that this is one of the best guitar solos of the '80s if you hadn't listened to the longer cut of the song.

Though the single version of the song is fine as far as decent R&B songs go, the album version is where things really start to go off, with Lukather taking the entire second half of the outro to grandstand, putting in some of the most smoking licks of his entire career while also switching to different tones at the exact same time. While by no means should you call something like this heavy, this is the kind of pop song that warrants a slow clap from the rock crowd.