Only the Ghostly!
Orbison, Zappa and host of long- gone stars to make millions from ‘live’ tours
WALKING on stage in trademark black sunglasses, Roy Orbison picks up his red Gibson guitar and plucks the opening riff to his biggest hit, Oh Pretty Woman, accompanied by a live orchestra and tumultuous applause.
The scene will be repeated across Britain in a major 11-venue tour – even though ‘The Big O’, as Orbison was known, suffered a fatal heart attack in 1988.
This is just the start of a new revolution in live music in which legendary stars take the stage again as holograms.
The concept may seem ghoulish, but the music industry – hungry for new ways to make money out of old material – is
‘It means this music era will live for ever’
keen to push a whole galaxy of deceased or unwilling stars back on to the road.
A holographic Frank Zappa tour has been confirmed for later this year, 25 years after his death. Opera superstar Maria Callas, who died 40 years ago, will sing in Tokyo in May and a digital version of Abba –who famously turned down $1 billion to reunite – will tour next year. ‘We can be on stage while I’m home walking the dogs,’ said songwriter Benny Andersson.
The modern holograms use 3D computer-generated images projected on to flexible screens.
Alan Edwards, a PR guru who represented everyone from The Rolling Stones to The Spice Girls, believes holograms are here to stay. ‘I often try to envisage what the music scene might look like in 500 years,’ he said. ‘Maybe a Bowie with an orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall or Hendrix with Mick Jones on guitar, John Paul Jones on bass and Keith Moon on drums at the O2? This music era will live for ever.’