The Tupac hologram at Coachella this year was a remarkable technical achievement. But does it mean we'll see other classic performers come back from the dead to perform live?
The makers of the hologram at Musion Technology have already said they'd like to bring back Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and even Michael Jackson.
While we're not completely opposed to the concept, there's something a little uncomfortable about using an artist's image on stage when they can't ever give consent.
But that doesn't mean we can't all have fun thinking about which artists we'd like a chance to see live.
That's exactly what the readers of Classic Rock did when they voted for which rock legend they'd like to see on stage one more time.
So who did they vote for, and do you agree with their choices?
10. Keith Moon
Keith was the banzai beatsmith for The Who, until he overdosed on 32 tablets of clomethiazole mixed with alcohol. Could a hologram possibly recreate his wild performance style? Probably not.
09. Jim Morrison
The Doors frontman joined the so-called "27 Club" when he died from a heroin overdose, but no autopsy was performed to prove it.
08. John Bonham
Even a hologram couldn't drink as much as the legendary Led Zeppelin drummer, but if they can recreate his mighty moustache and mane of hair, we'd love to see Bonham rock out. It's just a shame that it wouldn't techincally his own beats behind the performance.
07. Rory Gallagher
The Irish bandleader was an icon in the 1960s when he led his band Taste. After selling 30 million records worldwide, he received a liver transplant in 1995 but died soon after.
06. Bon Scott
The original AC/DC frontman is regarded as one of the greatest frontman of all time. A night of hard partying in London in 1980 led to his demise, but the band soon released "Back In Black" as a tribute to Scott. It went on to be one of the best selling albums of all time.
05. Gary Moore
Moore played alongside acts including Thin Lizzy, Skid Row and George Harrison while developed a successful solo career. An established session musician, Moore died from a heart attack in his sleep a little over a year ago in February 2011.
04. Phil Lynott
The founding member of Thin Lizzy didn't just write the classic hit "The Boys Are Back In Town". Alongside his music career, which included stints in Grand Slam and Skid Row, he released books of poetry and has been recognised with a brass statue in Dublin, Ireland.
03. Ronnie James Dio
Now this is a great idea for a hologram revival. Dio is one of the most distinctive heavy metal performers of all time thanks to his consistently powerful voice, and is credited with inventing the "metal horn" hand sign. One of his final recordings was a song called "Metal Will Never Die", but sadly he did just that in May 2010.
02. Freddie Mercury
Maybe a hologram is the only way to solve Queen's problem of finding new singers. Last year, Brian May said he wanted Lady Gaga to join the band, but this year they recruited Adam Lambert from American Idol as the frontman for a Sonisphere performance - which was later cancelled. If the hologram makers can pull it off properly, a proper Queen reunion could be a commercial and historic success.
01. Jimi Hendrix
What is left to say about one of the best known guitarists in history? The renown performer has often been cited as a candidate for a hologram revival since the Tupac performance two weeks ago, but there's a problem. Jimi's band was called the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and that experience included Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. Call us fussy, but in this case, a hologram might never recreate the real Hendrix experience.
It looks like the Classic Rock readers who voted in this poll have great taste.
Who would you like to see revived in digital form - or is the whole concept just as bad for live music as auto-tuning? Let us know in the comments.
I would not waste my money to go to a concert and see a virtual image of someone that died 40 years ago being manipulated in the backstage, while I can just sit here, in my home, and listen to all the amazing records these musicians made.
it just wouldn't/couldn't be right.it really seems like a selfish quest to garner money. the artist never gave permission to to these things.the past is the past.if you did not go to see a performer than too bad.support whats happening now.whats next crazy F@#*s sitting at home all day playing house with holograms of there diciest love ones,driving them self more mad by the moment. technology is awesome but sometimes we play with fire.
I think artists need to make an statement in there testament about this, who gets the money for using your personality?
It would just go to their estate, or whoever held the copywright to their music.
In that respect, it's no different to playing their records on commercial radio, or recording cover-versions. In the UK, for example, PRS (Not the guitars, before anyone gets confused!) would collect and pay the royalties, and other countries will have a similar arrangement.
I'm not saying it's a good idea, necassarily, but there are a lot of worse ideas around.
Whats the big deal about these holograms. Stop looking at it as selling out from beyond the grave. It could be a great thing for the future of music. We already have rock laser shows in every city across North America. Why not add a little more visuals? Its not like there making these holograms out to be something that they never were. They try to be as true to the artist as possible. Just like a tribute band , but much better sound quality. Everyone who would go to these shows would know its fake obviously. Nobody is going to get hurt. Just a gathering place for fans to remember what once was. So stop with all the creepy comments. Because what would really be creepy would be watching a grown man digging around a basement. Looking for his lost VHS tape of Jimi Hendrix. So he can get high and drunk and watch it alone.
When talking about the holograms, it`s disgusting, but stupid aswell.
Think about Hendrix, how old would he have been?
How drunk and drugged and ****ed up?
Morrison?
Mercury?
Should have had Chuck Schuldiner and Dimebag ****ing Darrell!
They would have been in their 40`s, well enough to shred.
They should do this for bands and people that are still here. imagine, 80s Hetfield jammin out then bam 90s hetfield then bam nowadays Het pops out for it. now that would be sick, and no little whiny pussies will get offended.
Still a bit too soon for Dio, I think. Sometimes I forget he's even dead, so seeing a hologram of a man who was performing practically yesterday wouldn't really impact me that much.
Still a bit too soon for Dio, I think. Sometimes I forget he's even dead, so seeing a hologram of a man who was performing practically yesterday wouldn't really impact me that much.
Thats what i said about Michael Jackson. the appeal at least for me is that I never would have had the chance to see Hendrix or The Doors or The Beatles performing due to my birth being off by about thirty years. This gives people the opportunity to get the next best thing.
Give it 10 years and living artists will broadcast global concerts this way from a studio somewhere.
I am now convinced that androids DO dream of electric sheep.
Theres no dime or chuck because this was a poll for CLASSIC ROCK. watch, next monday someone will have a poll for top metaller holograms, and everyone will start bitching some more
Isn't this similar to releasing live DVD's of the artist? Sure, I agree it's creepy to see them "in person", but the companies are making money off of the deceased artist by giving people a show. It's just in a different format.
Holograms that I want: NONE because it is corruption of the industry. We are already capable of seeing all of these guys on youtube whenever the hell we want. This is a lame ass idea needs to stop quick.
Some people don't seem to realise what's wrong with this.
Put it this way: If LIVE performances are done by DEAD people, where does that leave music as a whole.
Amen to that, I am not fond of holograms, while I wish I saw greats such as Andres Segovia and Dio while they were still with us, I would not want to see their memory defiled - I would much rather purchase a DVD of them which would honor their memory
Aside that, looking at how many people don't want this. If holograms of all these musicians start popping up and nobody wants to see them. Doesn't that prove the whole thing will be a flop?
Amen to that, I am not fond of holograms, while I wish I saw greats such as Andres Segovia and Dio while they were still with us, I would not want to see their memory defiled - I would much rather purchase a DVD of them which would honor their memory
Yeah. Segovia and Dio. That was a helluva tour.
I'm gutted I missed it!
i don't give a flying **** what anyone says, that tupac hologram was pretty ****ing sweet, seeing one of Mercury, Cobain, Morrison etc.. would be kickass as well, say what you will, but i like to look on the BRIGHT side of things, and you can't deny the fact that seeing that hologram of Tupac, as real as it looked, was pretty ****ing cool.
Its not even a hologram, after reading these articles I did some research, this was just a video image they were blasting onto a piece of mylar plastic or whatever composite they chose to use. Same idea as a projection screen television. Place the crowd far enough away and it gives the perception of a hologram. Good marketing technique but not really a hologram. Let the dead rest in peace, there is no reason for people to make money of there likeness.
Not the most original list but im still glad to see Rory Gallagher on there. Would like to see Jaco Pastorius, Miles Davis, Chuck Schuldiner (especially due to Death Tribute tour going on soon), Peter Steele as well as Robert Johnson.
If I really, really, REALLY wanted to watch a deceased artist, and a live album or dvd won't do, I'd watch a decent tribute act. If the artist was truely great then there will be one. I'd rather see a real person who's dedicated themselves to recreating the magic of an deceased rock god than what is essentially a massive telly in an over priced arena. Might as well watch a live DVD if your going to watch a hologram band!
Why do we have to talk about this? Honestly, I said before, the Tupac hologram was brilliant but why keep it going.. Its a ridiculous idea, let the legends rest.
And honestly.. do you think Dave Grohl would want to perform with a Cobain hologram? AC/DC with a Bon Scott hologram? Zeppelin with Bonzo? Insane. Let it go UG...
Oh and please do a better job with editing your articles, I don't know what you meant with the Bonham passage.
i respect rock and rolll legends as much as the next person but im sick and tired of people hating hologram technology because its not letting the rockstar "rest in peace" its a hologram the tupac hologram gave people who were too young to see tupac in real life a chance to see the closest thing to tupac they will ever get to seeing i dont see the problem with that as for disrepecting the memory its basically just a video so to say its disturbing someones legacy then technically so are all videos and replaying their music in general
noooo please stop if i see some dead artist on stage i will be pretty ****ing heartbroken.
I mean doing it once to someone like tupac is alright, thats fine. he did his thing and died before his time. but just because you can do it once doesn't mean keep on doing that shit??
please don't encourage them to do it, it's a nice thought but to me it's just a way for the record companies or whoever's in charge to make more money out of the deceased talent.
i dont want to see holograms of any of these people, i want to see live music, so if they have passed away, then oh well my loss. i do not want holograms of them. i could see MJ as a hologram because hes been overspammed since he passed, other than that i dont want any of this
Almost all of these are absolutely retarded. 2pac made sense being that a rapper (usually) performs as a solo act. Seeing a hologram of a dead, rock icon would need the band there to really encapsulate the experience. PLEASE do NOT do anymore. Concerts mean so much because you're there to see the same ol' guys who have been rocking hard - and loving it - for decades; anything less is a travesty.
Japan's been doing the hologram stuff regularly for years and no one really noticed, cause they haven't replaced EVERYONE with a hologram.
I really hope we don't start oversaturating the hologram stuff over here cause that tends to happen a lot with technology.
I think the only way I could support this is if they just broadcast a recording of an actual concert from the past. Like for Hendrix, they could make a hologram of him and his whole band from their Woodstock performance and have that tour to different ampitheaters. But I don't want to see some actor's representation of a dead artist or putting words in a dead man's mouth.
This is a great list (not that I agree with the idea of holograms performing as it's disrespectful). Instead of Bon Scott, I'd go for Ronnie Van Zant or Michael Jackson (though they wouldn't even let his hologram "live" in peace).
If everyone had this attitude then Princess Leia would never have got that message to Ben Kenobi, the Rebellion would never have destroyed the Death Star and THEN where would we be, huh?
spiff-corgi wrote:
If everyone had this attitude then Princess Leia would never have got that message to Ben Kenobi, the Rebellion would never have destroyed the Death Star and THEN where would we be, huh?
HAHA, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away!
spiff-corgi wrote:
If everyone had this attitude then Princess Leia would never have got that message to Ben Kenobi, the Rebellion would never have destroyed the Death Star and THEN where would we be, huh?
HAHA, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away!
The Rebellion's plight will always be relevant to me!
Why don't we just dig them all out of the ground and rape them while we're at it? How creepy it is to exploit dead people like this. If you want to relive a dead musicians work, listen to the albums they spent months of their time making .. not turn them into some creepy puppet with a backing track.
The thing with holograms is that it isn't the artist behind the performance, it's just CGI and old music clips. It's just a way of making money. As a one-off thing with Tupac it was cool but trying to "resurrect" rock icons is disrespectful
I think they should do a hologram of Axl Rose.
What's that? He's not dead? Hmmff. Any day now please Axl. I'll lend you a rope but I'm sure you could hang yourself from your ego -.-
The idea itself, I kind of like - it IS a bit like a music video.
The problems I have is if it is decided to make the holograms do things that the performers DIDN'T do in their lives. If how they were was recreated EXACTLY then there is, morally, little cause for complaint as their good name and existance won't be tarnished.
The money goes to whoever owns the royalties (music videos and CDs of dead musicians still exist after all).
SalsaShark561 wrote:
I think the only way I could support this is if they just broadcast a recording of an actual concert from the past. Like for Hendrix, they could make a hologram of him and his whole band from their Woodstock performance and have that tour to different ampitheaters. But I don't want to see some actor's representation of a dead artist or putting words in a dead man's mouth.
Basically, I'm with this chap My only real concern is that I would personally find it a little bit creepy to watch a dead man sing to me...
Am I the only one who thinks these holograms are more of a serious deal than just recreating "life replications" of basically anything? They just happened to choose Tupac as the debut.
There is something more sinister at work here. Ever heard of Project Bluebeam? Usually the occult rulers of this planet - yes I went there - debut this kind of stuff at "harmless" media events.
There are dark forces that control this planet (you don't have to look much further than the record industry) and I wouldn't be surprised if they try some s*** before they are finally fired and removed from controlling this planet.
On the other hand...a hologram of Bonham would be cool, but it's just not the real thing, so I'll stick to the records.
Anyway, as much as I miss having Dio as the most awesome singer on Earth, I wouldn't pay to see a hologram.
I don't see how a hologram would be useful to those who have never got to see Dio cause.. You can still see live videos, on VHS or DVD or any digital form. I think that's better than any sort of hologram, as it will be real. It will have improvisation and most importantly, LIFE.
Tupac was cool, surprising, fun, whatever. I only just started buying records again. If the music industry wants to start exploiting the deaths of its legends for a few extra bucks, I'm going right back to diwnloading. Fuck that. The immortality of these artists is in their music, not their physical appearance.
This is pretty sad, this just shows how blatantly ignorant people are about music. Dont people realize that there are other musicians out there who are more talented then Jimi Hendrix who have passed away? Seriously Jim ****ing Morrison? Why the **** is he even on this god damn list this pisses me off. Stop making stupid ass polls like this and take it from real musicians not random retards. Seriously Randy Rhoads will never make this list when in reality he had the opportunity to change music and basically did in what 3 albums of work?
Dunno why people are so butt hurt over this; it's just a form of entertainment. Should we pull all of the Jimi Hendrix DVDs from the shelfs because we need to 'let the legends rest'? Lets just be entertained and enjoy what the artists created; and I use that term loosely looking at that list. How could you possible come up with such an incredibly terrible list? I mean, literally, how could you manage that? Stunning.
the 2pac holagram is so badd ass! i cant wait to go to a show and get the vibe of a 2pac ocncert.. i dont know how these holagrams will work with other artist. i say only use it on artist who sadly left to early by a evil human. not the ones who overdosed or commited suicide.
This hologram thing is fun with imaginery artist like Hatsune Miku and Gorillaz, but don't try to resurrect deceased musicians. Let them rest in peace! There are great new artist out there, even they're unknown.
ok, Fuck music holograms, why not get live movies in hologram form, that way you know that the people are obviously not going to be there to preform it live, they will be better than ****ing 3-D movies these days, and to top it off imagine starwars holograms man....had to nerd out for a minute, but my point is,we shouldn't use holograms for concerts, it defeats the purpose of a "LIVE" show, because it's not live, it's like a bunch of people who came to watch TV at the civic center, it's dumb and on top of that every one has some contraversy on putting the dead back up on a stage as a digital rendition...so **** it, leave music alone and instead play movies as holograms instead...probably a lot cooler that way, deffinately not as offensive
if i see some dead artist on stage i will be pretty ****ing heartbroken. 
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