While some believe that the king of rock’n’roll may celebrate his 89th birthday next week propping up the bar of the Heartbreak Hotel, the rest of us will have to make do with an Elvis Presley hologram show in 2024.
Elvis Evolution, an “immersive concert experience” using AI and holographic projection, will premiere in London in November, with shows also planned in Las Vegas, Tokyo and Berlin.
The technology will create a lifesize digital Elvis from thousands of his personal photos and home-video footage. The hologram will perform in a celebration of the star’s life and musical legacy after a deal between Authentic Brands Group, the owners of the Elvis Presley estate, and Layered Reality, a British immersive entertainment company.
Andrew McGuinness, chief executive of Layered Reality, said: “Elvis Evolution is a next-generation tribute to the musical legend that is Elvis Presley.
“Elvis maintains superstar status globally and people around the world no longer want to sit there and passively receive entertainment – they want to be a part of it
“It’ll be a memory-making experience that will be a bucket-list item for Elvis fans and admirers around the world; people can step into the world of Elvis, walk in his shoes and celebrate his extraordinary musical legacy.”
The show will also offer an after-party Elvis-themed bar and restaurant on site at the central London location, with live music, DJs and performances.
The initiative follows the remarkable success of Abba Voyage, a show in which lifesize avatars of the four members of the Swedish pop group perform as their human counterparts appeared in 1979, in a purpose-built arena in east London.
In its first year, Abba Voyage sold more than 1.3m tickets with reports of a forthcoming world tour. The 90-minute show and arena cost £140m and seven years to develop.
The US rock band Kiss have also unveiled avatars of themselves, depicted as superheroes.
Although Elvis never faded from the cultural consciousness, two big-screen treatments in recent years have brought him fresh attention. Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla was released in the UK this week – providing a sympathetic treatment of his ex-wife, who lived her life in his shadow after meeting him at 14 when he was 24.
And in 2022, Baz Luhrmann produced a bombastic biopic of the king’s life in music and at home – earning rave reviews for lead actor Austin Butler.
By the time Presley died suddenly in 1977 at the age 42, he was a musical and cultural giant. He revolutionised popular music, scandalised older generations and was worshipped by the young, causing hysteria and near-riots with his gyrating pelvis. He also starred in a number of movies.
Despite years of prescription drug abuse and a famously unhealthy diet, his death from heart failure came as a shock. Conspiracy theorists claimed he had faked his own death and there have been countless reports of sightings of the legendary star all over the world.
According to one theory, Presley faked his death in order to escape the mafia. Gail Brewer-Giorgio, the author of the 1988 bestselling book Is Elvis Alive?, asserted that the FBI had enlisted Presley as an undercover agent in 1976 to help it infiltrate a criminal organisation called the Fraternity.
Brewer-Giorgio said: “Elvis faked his death because he was going to be killed and there was no doubt about it.”
Some people claimed Presley appeared as an extra in the 1990 blockbuster Home Alone.
A Gallup poll conducted in 1997 found that 4% of Americans thought Presley was alive, and 93% of those surveyed were certain he was dead.
