Elvis Presley’s immersive concert experience is set to leave London all shook up, with an AI rendering of the king of rock’n’roll ready to enthral fans from November 2024.
But this is not the first holographic performance – nor will it be the last. Here are some of the other artists whom technology has allowed to tour from beyond the grave, or as their younger selves.
Abba
Abba’s concert kicks off with a lithe and fresh-faced Benny Andersson reassuring the crowd: “This is really me. I just look very good for my age.”
The 90-minute show, which is based permanently in east London and pulls in £1.6m a week, takes viewers on a tour of the band’s 70s hits. Yet despite their remarkably realistic appearance, these dancing queens are in fact 65m pixel LED screens.
As well as delighting original fans and new recruits alike, the 77-year-old Andersson has said that the main benefit of the tour is that “we can be on stage while I’m home walking the dogs”.
Tupac Shakur
The rapper was murdered in a drive-by shooting in 1996 – so those attending Coachella in 2012 were astonished to see Tupac Shakur return to life for Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre’s headline set.
The holographic performance was the first of its kind, arguably undermining Tupac’s thesis that things will never change. A production company created an image of the rapper by piecing together footage of his characteristics and movements, and using AI to create new ones capable of directly interacting on stage with his fellow performers. The computer-generated image was then projected on to a highly reflective piece of Mylar stretched over a clear frame.
Roy Orbison
Alongside Abba, one of the other most successful hologram shows is Roy Orbison’s. The singer, who died 35 years ago, sold 1,800 seats on average for each show in his 2018 tour, which included the UK.
Orbison’s 3D projection crooned and strummed his way around the stage, interacting with a live audience, while live musicians played on either side.
Whitney Houston
Just as in real showbiz, some holographic stars can meet a tragic demise – Holo-Whitney Houston’s arrived after her family decided that it didn’t resemble the star closely enough.
The Evening with Whitney tour was subsequently cancelled, and a planned performance on The Voice pulled, after the virtual replica was criticised for its unusually floppy arms, jerky movements, and a mouth that didn’t know its own strength, appearing to be out of sync with her powerful vocal range.
The Rolling Stones
Lots of other ageing stars are mulling holograms – not least The Rolling Stones. Guitarist Keith Richards said it was “bound to happen”, while the lead singer, Mick Jagger, went further, suggesting that a posthumous tour would enable their legacy to continue, and calling into question their sympathy for the devil.
