With the first official exhibition of The Purple One’s memorabilia set to take place at London’s O2 Arena this October, Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson has claimed that the incredible live performer may be the latest deceased music icon to be brought back to the stage in the form of a hologram.
As reported by iNews, Nelson spoke about the idea of a ghostly Prince appearing alongside the instruments, outfits and personal effects that will be on display, taken from his Paisley Park home after his death in 2016.
“A hologram could be done as long as it is of excellent quality,” she said, adding, “It would have to allow the fans to experience Prince in the way he allowed us to experience his music.”
Whether or not that’s actually even possible with the limited technology that famously brought Tupac back to life at Coachella, and now sees Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell icon Ronnie James Dio set to make a holographic world tour, is one thing – the other is whether fans would even care to see the brilliantly energetic live sets of one of the world’s greatest performers emulated by a computer.
The other big, controversial takeaway from her interview related to the release of the countless hours of Prince’s music that has sat in his Paisley Park vaults since his death, wrapped up in messy legal struggles and unable to be released.
“I won’t leave this planet until all the music is out of the vaults and shared with Prince’s fans,” she said. “I haven’t heard it all and I don’t know how much is finished but it is the Paisley Park mission to share it with his fans around the world.”
We can’t say whether Prince would have ever wanted his unfinished works to be released, or if he’d look fondly on being trotted back out onstage as a hologram, but it seems his family and estate have plenty of plans for the music legend after his death.
Personally, I’d rather music and holograms only meet on something like the impressive illusions you see baked into some vinyl records, and have the dead legends resting in peace.
Prince’s channel just released this new clip for ‘Grand Slam’
