Ronnie James Dio Is Now A Hologram & Might Be Going On Tour

Late, great heavy metal icon Ronnie James Dio made an unexpected appearance from beyond the grave at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany at the weekend, after a beautifully made yet fundamentally unsettling hologram of the musician was unveiled during Dio Disciples' set to perform 1984 anthem We Rock.

As Rolling Stone reports, the somewhat haunting visage was created by hologram specialists Eyellusion, and its appearance at Wacken is far from an intended one-off — in fact, the hologram-makers are hoping that the hologram will hit the road on tour in 2017 (likely with Dio Disciples, who came together from the ashes of Dio's eponymous band following the musician's death from stomach cancer in 2010 — Dio's widow, Wendy, is both Dio Disciples' manager and a member of the Eyellusion team).

"When I first experienced the full production of Ronnie performing with his band as a hologram, I couldn't believe my eyes and ears," Wendy Dio said in a statement. "With Eyellusion, we have been able to get Ronnie back up on stage where he belongs, ensuring that his music and memory live on. I want Ronnie's fans around the world to share this experience."

According to Eyellusion's statement, the hologram took the better part of a year to create, and separates itself from other companies' predecessors by being the first "rock" hologram as well as being the first hologram to accompany a live band in a traditional concert setting.

"Eyellusion is creating the best hologram content and live music productions for a completely new concert experience," chief executive Jeff Pezzuti said. "We're taking every step to capture the excitement and energy that comes from seeing your favourite band perform live.

"That means when the lights go down in the venue, the amps are loud, the band sounds great and the pyro is blinding. We are creating an entirely new way for fans to experience their favourite music."

You can read more about Eyellusion and their plans to terrify a whole new generation of music fans at their website.

 

At Eyellusion, we are live music fans first. From the moment those first notes ring out, we’re hooked. And we never want the show to end. This weekend, we gave over 75,000 fans at Wacken a glimpse of our vision for how the music we all love can live on forever. When Ronnie James Dio appeared via hologram with his old Dio bandmates, all of the hard work the team and band have put in over the past few months was rewarded as soon as the fans gave their instant stamp of approval. Rock horns in the air, cheering that never seemed to end and a sing-along that sounded louder than thunder were all signs that we’ve tapped into something special. We can’t wait to share more as we officially launch tonight to bring a new live music experience to music fans around the world. Thank you for the support and we’ll see you on the road! #Eyellusion #DioHologram #Wacken #RedefiningTheLiveMusicExperience

A photo posted by Eyellusion (@eyellusionlive) on Aug 7, 2016 at 2:10pm PDT