Reunion was also a performance venue for some of the biggest names in popular music from the 1980s through the late 2000s including Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Prince, Van Halen, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, David Bowie, Madonna, Dire Straits, Gloria Estefan, Phil Collins, Mötley Crüe, Pink Floyd, Queen, Journey, U2, R.E.M.

Due to scheduling conflicts in 1984, the WCT Tennis Tournament forced the Dallas Mavericks to play Game 5 of their first playoff series at Moody Coliseum, against the Seattle SuperSonics.

Reunion was also a venue that was frequently used by World Class Championship Wrestling in the 1980s, in which the organization held its bi-monthly Star Wars events.

Reunion Arena also served as the venue for WWE's December 21, 1999 and November 9, 2000 SmackDown show as well as the Fully Loaded Pay-Per-View event in July of the same year.

President Ronald Reagan spoke at Reunion Arena at a prayer breakfast of an estimated 10,000 people on Aug. 23, 1984, during the Republican National Convention.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton visited the arena to watch the University of Arkansas basketball team play in the NCAA tournament.

[11] The arena featured 30,000 ft2 (2,790 m2) of floor space and had great sightlines, making it ideal for a number of events and games, including many high school graduations.

At least five other concerts including Boz Scaggs, the Commodores, The Oak Ridge Boys, Foghat with the Pat Travers Band, and a triple bill of Ted Nugent, Scorpions, and Def Leppard were all booked before the official opening in July.

Some of the most successful multi-night engagements at Reunion Arena included Stevie Wonder (November 2–3, 1980), AC/DC (February 1–2, 1982 and October 11–12, 1985), Rush (February 28 – March 1, 1983, January 12–13, 1986 and January 19–20, 1988), Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (May 4–5, 1983), Bryan Adams and Journey (June 8–10, 1983; Journey returned December 2–3, 1986), ZZ Top (four-night stints September 28 – October 1, 1983, and August 30 – September 4, 1986; two-night engagements on August 30–31, 1986, April 22–23, 1991 and October 29–30, 1994), The Police with UB40 (November 13–14, 1983), Neil Diamond (December 4–6, 1983, December 6–8, 1984 and June 9–10, 1986), Van Halen (September 10–11, 1981, November 18–19, 1982 and July 14–16, 1984), Prince (December 30, 1984 – January 1, 1985), Genesis (January 18–19, 1987), David Bowie (October 10–11, 1987), Pink Floyd (November 21–23, 1987), Michael Jackson (April 25–27, 1988), Madonna (May 7–8, 1990), Mötley Crüe with Lita Ford and Faster Pussycat (July 30–31, 1990), Depeche Mode with The The (October 13–14, 1993), Garth Brooks (February 13–15, 1998), Backstreet Boys (March 3–4, 2000), Dixie Chicks (August 10–11, 2000), and Paul McCartney (May 9–10, 2002).

Country music superstars also dominated the scene at Reunion Arena in the 1980s beginning with a triple bill of Willie Nelson, Ray Price and Lacy J. Dalton on December 30, 1980.

Other country artists of note at Reunion Arena included: Many top names in soul, R&B and funk played at Reunion including Teddy Pendergrass, Commodores, Diana Ross, Rick James, The Temptations, Ray Parker Jr., The Gap Band, Marvin Gaye, Al Jarreau, The Isley Brothers, Ray Charles, Luther Vandross, Earth, Wind & Fire, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Kool & the Gang.

Prince played two New Year's Eve shows at Reunion Arena—on December 31, 1982, with Vanity 6 and The Time, and again on December 30–31, 1984, through January 1, 1985, with Sheila E. The venue was also host to some of the first large-scale hip-hop and rap concerts in Dallas including Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on November 29, 1980, and a triple bill with Run-DMC, Beastie Boys and Timex Social Club on June 15, 1986 (the Run-DMC/Beastie Boys pairing proved successful enough to warrant a return engagement on July 24, 1987).

In the 1990s and 2000s hip-hop and rap acts as diverse as MC Hammer, Bobby Brown, Method Man and Redman, DMX, Jay-Z, and Eminem would eventually headline the venue.

Many 1980s stars played Reunion in the early 1990s including: Top 1990s pop acts also played the venue, including Melissa Etheridge, Jewel, Ricky Martin, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Third Eye Blind, The Wallflowers, Everclear, No Doubt, Creed, The Black Eyed Peas, and Gwen Stefani.

Although legacy hard rock acts like Aerosmith and Rush continued to be big draws in the 1990s and 2000s the headliners at Reunion Arena were often aggressive radio-rock acts like Primus, Korn, Incubus, Pantera, Rob Zombie, Limp Bizkit, Staind, Bush, Blink-182, Marilyn Manson, Godsmack, Kid Rock, Rammstein, System of a Down, and Tool.

Alternative rock bands including Sonic Youth, Social Distortion, U2, Pixies, Morrissey, Radiohead, Garbage, The Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Alanis Morissette and PJ Harvey all played Reunion Arena in the 1990s and 2000s.

In early 2002, Reunion Arena booked engagements including Bob Dylan, NSYNC, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Paul McCartney.

The Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani played on November 11, 2005, the last major act to perform at Reunion Arena.