Which Other Dead Singers Will Make Successful Hologram Tours?
So, that Tupac hologram. Wild, right? That’s the typically baffled response to the news that the long-dead ‘Pac appeared alongside Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at Coachella, and that Dre is now brainstorming a way to send virtual Tupac on tour. And if this pays off, you just know that promoters will be looking to send more dead performers on the road. But which apparitions have the potential to sell the most tickets? To find out, we called up Jeff Jampol, whose JAM Inc. manages the estates of such late singers as Rick James, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin, among others. Here’s his list of the ghosts who should start putting their riders together. (Only Cristal formaldehyde!)*
*The original version of this slide show had the year of Elvis’s death wrong.
"The Beatles are the greatest pop-rock group of all time and they cut their touring career short before they broke up. Most of the world never ha...
"The Beatles are the greatest pop-rock group of all time and they cut their touring career short before they broke up. Most of the world never had the opportunity to see them live and even the people who did see them live probably never heard them. I think that would be really phenomenal, especially for younger folks who never had a chance to be exposed to Beatlemania," says Jampol.
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"He was the King of Pop. He had it all. The most amazing dancer. The most phenomenal singer. The most over-the-top spectacle. And that spectacle,...
"He was the King of Pop. He had it all. The most amazing dancer. The most phenomenal singer. The most over-the-top spectacle. And that spectacle, it was once in a lifetime. Each experience was like a once-in-a-lifetime moment that could be re-created over and over again."
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"Elvis would probably have to be three holograms. There's early Elvis, of Sun Records, Mystery Train-era; there's Elvis of the '68 comeback era; ...
"Elvis would probably have to be three holograms. There's early Elvis, of Sun Records, Mystery Train-era; there's Elvis of the '68 comeback era; then there's the later, big speculate Elvis. All three are like different artists. So you'd have to have three different stages, three holograms. You could have three different tours." (There was already an Elivs tour this year that involved a video-projected King, though a hologram Elvis could be even more mind-blowing.)
"Rap started developing as an art form in the late seventies and early eighties, and Tupac and Biggie really took it to the next level. Their hol...
"Rap started developing as an art form in the late seventies and early eighties, and Tupac and Biggie really took it to the next level. Their holograms could tour together. They experienced both sides of life — the tender, emotive side and the underground thug experience. They were the voice of the people and they had the ear of the streets. They were life changing experiences individually. Together it seems to me like 1+1 would equal 27."
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"Jim is arguably the most iconic lead singer ever. He was a musician, a poet — he was mesmerizing. The Doors live performances were legendary. To...
"Jim is arguably the most iconic lead singer ever. He was a musician, a poet — he was mesmerizing. The Doors live performances were legendary. To see the magic of those performances, of Jim reading poetry and singing songs. People don't realize the Doors were only together for 54 months. It's amazing how many hit songs they had in that time. The other thing is L.A. Woman was released in April 1971 and in July Jim passed. So they never had a chance to tour that album. L.A. Woman live would have been next-level stuff."
"He was the chairman of the board. He had a lifetime of being an icon. But I think most of his fan base is older and I'm not sure how many live s...
"He was the chairman of the board. He had a lifetime of being an icon. But I think most of his fan base is older and I'm not sure how many live shows they'd come out for and if they'd buy into the hologram technology." (Frank Sinatra was brought back via optical illusion for a single show back in 2003.)
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