Prince's 1984 Hits Anchor 'Stranger Things' Series Finale Soundtrack

The concluding installment of the Netflix series 'Stranger Things,' titled "The Rightside Up," which premiered on December 31, 2025, featured a carefully curated musical selection to underscore its narrative resolution. The finale prominently incorporated Prince's seminal 1984 track, "When Doves Cry," during a sequence described as climactic.

"When Doves Cry," the lead single from the *Purple Rain* album, achieved significant commercial success, spending five consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard magazine officially recognized the song as the top-selling single of the 1984 calendar year and it secured RIAA Platinum certification for shipments of two million units in the United States. The soundtrack also included the title track from the same album, "Purple Rain." The *Purple Rain* album itself dominated the Billboard 200 chart for 24 consecutive weeks following its 1984 debut, positioning Prince alongside artists like Elvis Presley and The Beatles for simultaneously holding the number-one album, single, and film in the U.S.

The confirmed tracklist for the final episode extended beyond Prince to include established works from artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Pixies, Iron Maiden, and David Bowie. Notably absent was Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)," a track closely associated with the character Max Mayfield's arc in earlier seasons. The series has consistently utilized 1980s music to establish its atmosphere, previously featuring tracks like The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and Metallica's "Master of Puppets." The show's music supervision, recognized with awards including the 2022 Emmy for Outstanding Music Supervision, has often introduced these classic songs to new audiences, sometimes resulting in their re-entry onto music charts.

The production scale of the final season, which concluded the narrative spanning five seasons since its 2016 debut, was substantial. Reports indicated that the budget for Season 5 escalated, with estimates placing the cost between $50 million and $60 million per episode, resulting in a total production cost approaching $480 million for the eight-episode run. This investment was intended to deliver cinematic quality and impactful moments, such as the musical choices in the finale. The episode "The Rightside Up" had a runtime of approximately 2 hours and 8 minutes and premiered simultaneously on Netflix and in over 350 theaters across the United States and Canada on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2025.