125 Pop Culture Trivia Questions That Challenge Your Knowledge
Are you ready to take a nostalgic ride through the vibrant world of entertainment and media? Pop culture trivia questions offer a fun and engaging way to revisit the memorable moments that have shaped our social landscape.
From the groovy tunes of the 80s and the radical shifts of the 90s to the digital explosion of the 2000s, these questions will challenge your knowledge and bring back the joy of various decades. Whether you’re a trivia night enthusiast or just looking for a lively discussion with friends, get set to test your mastery of all things pop culture!
Pop Culture Trivia Questions and Answers
80s Pop Culture Trivia Questions
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- What 1982 movie featured a young boy and his alien friend who just wanted to “phone home”?
Answer: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Who directed the blockbuster hit “Back to the Future,” which premiered in 1985?
Answer: Robert Zemeckis - Which hit song by Michael Jackson, released in 1983, featured an iconic music video with a zombie dance routine?
Answer: Thriller - Name the first video ever played on MTV, launched on August 1, 1981.
Answer: “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles - Which action movie released in 1988 has become synonymous with the phrase “Yippee-ki-yay”?
Answer: Die Hard - In what year did the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) debut in America?
Answer: 1985 - What was the best-selling album of the 1980s?
Answer: Thriller by Michael Jackson - Who wrote the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which was first published in 1985?
Answer: Margaret Atwood - What sitcom, which premiered in 1989, was set in New York and focused on the life of a stand-up comedian and his friends?
Answer: Seinfeld - Which 1980 film featured a haunted hotel and Jack Nicholson’s famous line, “Here’s Johnny!”?
Answer: The Shining - What was Madonna’s first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100?
Answer: “Holiday” - Which classic 80s movie featured a group of kids hunting for pirate treasure, and was directed by Richard Donner?
Answer: The Goonies - Who was the U.S. President for most of the 1980s?
Answer: Ronald Reagan - Which iconic 80s TV show featured characters named Crockett and Tubbs as undercover cops in Miami?
Answer: Miami Vice - Name the artist behind the hit single “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”
Answer: Cyndi Lauper - Which 1987 romance film featured the line “Nobody puts Baby in a corner”?
Answer: Dirty Dancing - Which science fiction film trilogy began in the 1980s and included a character named Marty McFly?
Answer: Back to the Future - What popular fitness trend and video series was launched by Jane Fonda in the 1980s?
Answer: Jane Fonda’s Workout - Which arcade game, popular in the 1980s, involves eating dots and avoiding ghosts in a maze?
Answer: Pac-Man - Who is credited with popularizing the Moonwalk dance move?
Answer: Michael Jackson - Which comic strip, created by Bill Watterson, debuted in 1985 and features a boy and his tiger?
Answer: Calvin and Hobbes - Which 1986 movie directed by Tony Scott was a major box office success and starred Tom Cruise as a fighter pilot?
Answer: Top Gun - What iconic toy of the 80s was originally marketed as a “Puzzle with a Billion Combinations and only one Solution”?
Answer: Rubik’s Cube - Which 1984 supernatural comedy film involves a group of eccentric parapsychologists in New York City?
Answer: Ghostbusters - What was the original name of the charity single “We Are the World,” recorded in 1985 to aid famine relief in Africa?
Answer: It was always known as “We Are the World.”
90s Pop Culture Trivia Questions
2000s Pop Culture Trivia Questions
- What was the name of the reality TV show that made Kim Kardashian famous?
Answer: Keeping Up with the Kardashians - Who won the first season of “American Idol” in 2002?
Answer: Kelly Clarkson - Which movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2001?
Answer: Gladiator - What was the name of the virtual pet that became a craze in the early 2000s?
Answer: Neopets - Which song, released by Beyoncé in 2003, became her first solo No. 1 hit in the USA?
Answer: Crazy in Love - What is the name of the wizarding school Harry Potter attended?
Answer: Hogwarts - Which 2004 movie popularized the phrase “That’s fetch!”?
Answer: Mean Girls - Who performed with Janet Jackson during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show when the infamous ‘wardrobe malfunction’ occurred?
Answer: Justin Timberlake - What device did Apple introduce in 2001 that changed the music industry?
Answer: The iPod - Which series, first aired in 2004, starts with a plane crash on a deserted island?
Answer: Lost - Which book series released its final installment in July 2007?
Answer: Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) - What popular Disney Channel movie, released in 2006, starred Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens?
Answer: High School Musical - Who sang the 2000 hit song “Oops!… I Did It Again”?
Answer: Britney Spears - What was the best-selling video game console of the 2000s decade?
Answer: PlayStation 2 - Which television show, premiered in 2004, featured characters named Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows?
Answer: Prison Break - What 2000s film trilogy featured a cursed pirate named Jack Sparrow?
Answer: Pirates of the Caribbean - Which 2000s teen drama TV series was set in the fictional town of Tree Hill, North Carolina?
Answer: One Tree Hill - What was the name of the social networking site launched by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004?
Answer: Facebook - Who wrote the song “Hips Don’t Lie,” which became a massive hit in 2006?
Answer: Shakira - What popular 2000s television show featured a chemistry teacher turned meth producer?
Answer: Breaking Bad - Which animated film featuring a green ogre won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001?
Answer: Shrek - What was the title of the first film in the “Transformers” series, released in 2007?
Answer: Transformers - Which reality show, first aired in 2000, strands contestants in remote locations to outwit, outplay, and outlast each other for a million dollars?
Answer: Survivor - What 2000s song, performed by OutKast, won the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2004?
Answer: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - Which device, launched in 2007, revolutionized mobile technology and is considered a precursor to modern smartphones?
Answer: iPhone
Black Pop Culture Trivia Questions
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- Who was the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, and for which film?
Answer: Halle Berry for “Monster’s Ball” in 2001 - What TV show, premiering in 1989, was groundbreaking in its portrayal of a Black family and starred Bill Cosby?
Answer: The Cosby Show - Which artist released the album “Thriller,” the best-selling album of all time?
Answer: Michael Jackson - What is the name of the groundbreaking 2018 superhero film directed by Ryan Coogler that featured a predominantly Black cast and crew?
Answer: Black Panther - Who became the first Black President of the United States?
Answer: Barack Obama - What late singer is known as the “Queen of Soul” and famous for hits like “Respect” and “Think”?
Answer: Aretha Franklin - Which novel by Toni Morrison, published in 1987, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988?
Answer: Beloved - Which rapper and mogul released “The Blueprint” album in 2001 and founded Roc-A-Fella Records?
Answer: Jay-Z - Who was the first Black woman to be crowned Miss America, in 1983?
Answer: Vanessa Williams - Which influential Black comedian and actor created the sketch comedy show “In Living Color”?
Answer: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Name the groundbreaking HBO series created by Issa Rae that explores the experiences of Black women.
Answer: Insecure - Who is known as the “King of Pop”?
Answer: Michael Jackson - Which artist’s album “Lemonade” became a cultural phenomenon for its exploration of Black womanhood, infidelity, and resilience?
Answer: Beyoncé - What is the name of the first African American woman to travel into space, in 1992?
Answer: Mae Jemison - Who won a Best Original Score Oscar for “Black Panther,” making him the first African American to win in this category?
Answer: Ludwig Göransson - What Spike Lee film, released in 1989, explored racial tensions in a Brooklyn neighborhood?
Answer: Do the Right Thing - Name the poet who read “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
Answer: Amanda Gorman - Which singer, known as the “Godfather of Soul,” had profound influences on the music genres of funk, soul, and R&B?
Answer: James Brown - What 1990s sitcom starred rapper and actor Will Smith living with his wealthy relatives in California?
Answer: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - Which film, directed by Ava DuVernay, tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr.’s march from Selma to Montgomery?
Answer: Selma - Who is the groundbreaking ballerina that became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre in 2015?
Answer: Misty Copeland - What influential hip-hop group released “Straight Outta Compton” in 1988, marking a significant moment in hip-hop history?
Answer: N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) - Which singer-songwriter is known for blending soul, jazz, and blues and won multiple Grammy Awards for her 1999 album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”?
Answer: Lauryn Hill - Name the groundbreaking series on Netflix created by Justin Simien that discusses racial tensions at a predominantly white Ivy League college.
Answer: Dear White People - Which pioneering hip-hop artist is known for hits like “Walk This Way” and “My Adidas”?
Answer: Run-D.M.C.
Current Pop Culture Trivia Questions
- What film won the Best Picture award at the 2022 Oscars?
Answer: CODA - Who performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2022?
Answer: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar - Which movie became the highest-grossing film of 2021 worldwide?
Answer: Spider-Man: No Way Home - Which television series, based on a series of fantasy novels, premiered on Amazon Prime in 2022?
Answer: The Wheel of Time - Who won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2022?
Answer: Jon Batiste for “We Are” - What is the name of the 2021 Netflix series that became the platform’s biggest series launch ever?
Answer: Squid Game - Which artist broke the record for most streamed song on Spotify in one day in 2021?
Answer: Adele with the song “Easy On Me” - Who hosted the Oscars in 2022?
Answer: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall, and Wanda Sykes - Which animated movie won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2022?
Answer: Encanto - What is the name of Taylor Swift’s 2021 re-recorded album?
Answer: Red (Taylor’s Version) - Which 2021 film directed by Denis Villeneuve is a remake of a 1984 sci-fi classic?
Answer: Dune - Which artist became the first female rapper to have a diamond-certified song by the RIAA in 2021?
Answer: Cardi B - What popular gaming console was still in high demand and frequently sold out throughout 2021?
Answer: PlayStation 5 - Which Marvel series on Disney+ in 2021 featured a character with super soldier serum?
Answer: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - Which song by The Weeknd became widely popular and sparked a TikTok dance craze?
Answer: Blinding Lights - Who was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2021?
Answer: Elon Musk - Which 2021 movie features a performance by Lady Gaga as the wife of a famous murdered fashion mogul?
Answer: House of Gucci - What controversial event occurred at the 2022 Oscars involving Will Smith?
Answer: Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage. - Which hit HBO show starring Zendaya as a troubled teen aired its second season in 2022?
Answer: Euphoria - Which social media platform introduced a feature called ‘Reels’ in 2020, mimicking TikTok?
Answer: Instagram - What is the name of the viral online word game that became a sensation in early 2022?
Answer: Wordle - Who wrote the novel that the 2021 film “The Last Letter from Your Lover” is based on?
Answer: Jojo Moyes - Which British royal couple gave a revealing interview to Oprah Winfrey in 2021?
Answer: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - What 2021 hit TV show on Netflix is set in the Regency era and produced by Shonda Rhimes?
Answer: Bridgerton - Which 2020 documentary series detailed the life of a zookeeper and sparked widespread media attention?
Answer: Tiger King