Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates 1984 with new exhibit, Pop Music's Best Year Ever

This summer, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates 1984, a banner year that reshaped music history. The new exhibit features select artifacts that showcase the era's iconic moments and cultural highlights.

Hall of Fame inductees Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Michael Jackson, and more will be featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's new exhibit, 1984, which opens on July 29. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the year that Alan Light, one of music's leading journalists, has dubbed "Pop Music's Best Year Ever."

The year 1984 gave birth to the inaugural MTV Music Awards and introduced the Macintosh computer, Apple's personal computer. Both of these elements and many more that impacted our culture will be highlighted in the exhibit.

"1984 was a massive year for music! Superstars including Prince, Van Halen, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Madonna released master works. It was the year that MTV went nationwide, and a new wave of musicians led by Duran Duran, Eurythmics, and Culture Club used the medium of music video of explore gender identity, sexuality, and race in their music and style, In addition, 1984 saw artists like Run-D.M.C. and LL COOL J usher in the golden age of hip-hop by taking the culture coast-to-coast. We’re excited to welcome music fans from near and far this summer and take them on a journey to revisit this landmark year that changed music forever. "

- Greg Harris - R&R Hall of Fame, Pres/CEO

Several iconic pieces of memorabilia will be featured in the exhibit including Madonna's "Like A Virgin" outfit that was worn during her Girlie Show world tour. Below are some other noteworthy pieces that will be displayed.

In 1984, Lionel Richie performed in front of 92,000 ticketed fans and over 2 billion watching from home as he closed out the Summer Olympic games, which were hosted at the LA Coliseum. The exhibit will feature the blue sequined jacket he wore for this performance.

Michael Jackson was quite the trendsetter with the below-featured Thriller Jacket that he wore in the music video for one of the best-selling singles of all time, Thriller. The candy apple red jacket became one of the hottest outerwear fads of the mid-1980s. Jackson filed a lawsuit to prevent the jacket and his other merch from being reproduced. Another one of the great items that will be featured in the 1984 exhibit.

In 1984, Duran Duran finally broke through in the US with their No. 1 single, "The Reflex," featured on their Top 10 Album Seven and the Ragged Stranger. This would lead to the band's first live album, Arena, released in November 1984. This is a pivotal album for the band, as it was the last to feature the five original members. Below is a satin jacket featuring the Arena album artwork.

A reproduction of Eddie Van Halen's signature Frankenstrat guitar will also be on display. This guitar was Van Halen's attempt "to combine the sound of a classic Gibson guitar with the physical attributes and tremolo bar functionality of a Fender Stratocaster." Over the years, Van Halen would modify the guitar, first used in 1977, even adding elements not used to confuse people who tried to copy his signature piece. The red, black, and white design wasn't introduced until 1979.

Chaka Khan would premiere her version of Prince's "I Feel For You," a song featured on his 1978 self-titled album, in 1984. The music video for the single featured clothing by Norman Kamali, including the outfit below worn by Khan. This is another excellent piece of memorabilia from 1984 featured in the exhibit.