The magazine reached its circulation peak in the mid-to-late 1980s selling a half-million copies every month as heavy metal music achieved high levels of popularity and commercial success.

According to his recollection, Hit Parader covered "an extremely boring music scene" in the early 60s prior to the emergence of hugely popular rock groups such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys in 1964.

[1] During the 1970s, Hit Parader frequently covered hard rock acts such as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, David Bowie, Blue Öyster Cult, the Kinks, Three Dog Night, the Who, Cheap Trick, Kiss, and Van Halen.

In 1980 Secher replaced Robinson as the magazine's editor and Shelton Ivany came on board as editor-in-chief, and it was under their leadership that Hit Parader moved away from new wave music for good, becoming the first monthly publication to focus exclusively on hard rock and heavy metal.

[6] Secher recognized the magazine's target demographic as the young suburban male, whom he referred to as "some 17-year-old kid in Iowa, not a socialite in Manhattan", and attributed Hit Parader's longevity and success to its ability to anticipate trends in music months in advance.

Upon arriving in Mexico in December 1983 to interview the band, Secher was met by lead vocalist Vince Neil and taken to the group's hotel where he found "this young woman, spread eagle on the bed, naked, and they're going at her with a wine bottle".

Over the ensuing decade, Hit Parader became one of America's leading heavy metal publications, providing extensive coverage of the era's popular acts such as Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Ratt, and Ozzy Osbourne.

[6] During its 1980s heyday, Hit Parader featured the work of rock journalists such as Charley Crespo, Jodi Summers, Wolfgang Schnapp, Adrianne Stone, Rob Andrews, Winston Cummings, and Rick Evans.

[3] Later that year, Guns N' Roses' hugely successful Use Your Illusion II album included a track entitled "Get in the Ring", the lyrics of which accused Secher and Hit Parader of "printin' lies instead of the things we said" and "rippin' off the fuckin' kids … [and] startin' controversy".

"[5] Speaking to the music website rockcritics.com in the early 2000s, Secher identified the magazine's target readership as "a young, male demographic … They want short, pithy interviews and features – along with BIG color photos.

He also defended Hit Parader's championing of heavy metal, despite the disapproval the genre attracted from some music critics, saying: "I always sensed that people like Christgau had to justify their existence by promoting the artistic aesthetics of the rock form.

In 2020, entertainment industry veterans Matt Pinfield, Ash Avildsen, and Josh Bernstein purchased the rights to Hit Parader and resurrected it as a branded production company.

It announced plans for a new television series entitled Paradise City which Avildsen described as "A mix of the young angst of Euphoria, the entertainment biz authenticity of Entourage and the supernatural fun of Sabrina", featuring Drea de Matteo and Bella Thorne.