Lionel Richie’s outfit at the 1984 Olympics was one of the 80s outfits of all time

Editor’s Note: “Remember When?” is a CNN-style series that delves deep into the archives of pop culture history, offering a nostalgic look at the celebrity outfits that defined their eras.

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Remember when Lionel Richie, flanked by the best pyrotechnics of 1984, finished the LA Olympics in a jacket completely covered in pearls?

It was one of Richie’s first solo performances after leaving the funk and soul group the Commodores two years earlier. “I was just getting into it,” he told the Associated Press in 2020. “I think I had done a couple of shows in Vegas just to warm up, but nothing like this.” He performed an unforgettable 9-minute rendition of “All Night Long” before an estimated audience of 2.6 billion viewers, surrounded by a dancing entourage in a mix of white tracksuits and red cheerleader minidresses. As they circled the stage, fireworks lit up the sky.

While he’s now associated with a more understated wardrobe, particularly his rotating inventory of American Idol-style leather jackets and black Anthony Thomas Melillo T-shirts, Richie was once a more daring – or at least dazzling – dresser. The unforgettable blue and silver beaded jacket he wore to the 1984 Olympics was cropped at the hips and featured silver piping around the collar and sleeves. He paired the statement jacket, designed by the late Bill Frank Whitten, with white pleated trousers, a silver sequin shirt and a matching beaded belt.

Whitten was the creator of many of Elton John and Michael Jackson’s famous stage looks, including Jackson’s iconic white glove or the crystal-encrusted socks he wore when he first moondanced to “Billie Jean” at a Motown concert in 1983. Whitten’s flair for crystals, rhinestones and high-shine materials was initially subversive to many after a decade of sultry velvet and silk dominance. “When I got into the business, Liberace was the only man in a pearl-encrusted jacket,” Whitten told the LA Times in 1990. “Nobody had tasteful pearls for men. Nobody.”

The groundbreaking garment will now be displayed for the first time at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a music memorabilia museum in Cleveland, Ohio, where it will be part of a new exhibition honoring the artists of the year 1984 – from Tina Turner, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen to Lionel Richie.

Although Richie doesn’t own the original piece, he does own a version of it. In an interview with Coveteur magazine in 2018, the global star opened his closet and revealed a blue sequined bomber jacket with the words “All Night Long” emblazoned on the back. “It’s actually a knockoff of the 1984 Olympic jacket,” he said. “At the time, I launched ‘All Night Long’ and it happened to happen at the 1984 Olympics, and of course, the color is unbeatable. We took it and made a bomber jacket out of it and then, to be really casual, we wrote ‘All Night Long’ on the back!”

Of all the glittering medals won at the Games this year, viewers will probably remember Richie’s dazzling performance at the closing ceremony the most. Standing on a shimmering gold podium in his bright beaded jacket, it was clear that Richie was also gunning for gold.