Here comes the Las Vegas Elton John hologram show
With so many artists in their 70s and 80s, there are efforts to keep them performing and earning after their dead. Holograms are one way.
ABBA Voyage is the gold standard for this. That production has generated over half a billion US dollars from its single theatre in London. Estimates are that it has added £2.06 billion to the UK economy since it opened in the spring of 2022. That’s an average of US$2 million a week from a total of four million visitors and counting.
Now we hear that Elton John has signed a multi-million dollar deal with the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. This will be an unlimited hologram residency (hey, holograms don’t need time off), and should open next summer. This takes the place of Elton’s touring career from which he retired in 2023.
Elton seems to have a change of heart regarding these things. Back in 2018, he gave an interview to The NME, he said he had a conversation with his son. “When Daddy dies, promise me there won’t be a hologram going around the world doing concerts.”
He also said that holograms are “like doing a duet album with someone who’s dead – it’s so spooky. Who knows – they may go broke and then put me back on the fucking stage, but I think that’s a bit freaky”.
