With members that had been in Ozzy Osbourne's band as well as Montrose, Night Ranger's lineup had prior experience with success before forming the group in the early '80s. The San Francisco band had gotten some attention with their debut Dawn Patrol in 1983 and even managed to place their single "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" into the US Top 40, albeit at #40.

In the early '80s, harder rock bands such as Night Ranger didn't easily get acceptance at pop radio and, when they did, it was usually for a power ballad which is exactly what happened in Night Ranger's case. Their sophomore album, Midnight Madness was released in the fall of 1983 and, once again, found favor at album rock stations, but the lead single, "(You Can Still) Rock In America" couldn't crack the Top 40.

However, in March of the following year, the more accessible "Sister Christian" was issued as the second single to radio. Building momentum first at album rock radio, the song soon crossed over to mainstream pop audiences and did so in a major way. In late April, it became their second Top 40 hit. Six weeks later, it became their first Top Ten single and, in June, peaked for two weeks at #5. On the AOR charts, the song climbed to #2 and, in addition to being a theme for numerous high school graduating classes that year, it helped Midnight Madness sell more than a million copies.

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