When it was revealed, in October 2018, that Amy Winehouse would be resurrected as a hologram for an international tour this year, opinions were split. Some fans who had missed out on seeing her perform were excited to see her “live”, but others denounced the tour as a money-grabbing ploy that she wouldn’t have approved of, calling to let her “rest in peace”.
Maybe this pushback is part of the reason that Base Hologram, the company that is supposed to be staging the show, has now decided to put the tour on hold (or maybe not, there are probably lots of complications when it comes to digitally bringing dead musicians back to life).
In a Twitter post, Base Hologram writes: “In developing the type of highly ambitious, state of the art hologram/augmented reality theatrical event that would truly capture her genius and incredible artistic and social contributions, we have encountered some unique challenges and sensitivities.”
“Therefore, we are putting the tour on hold until we determine the best path to a creatively spectacular production that would properly honor Amy’s legacy at its highest caliber.”
Even in the comments of this post there’s a taste of the controversy the original announcement of the tour stirred up, too. “I've been really looking forward to this tour since it was announced as I never got to see Amy live,” writes one commenter. “I do hope it goes ahead and it's not cancelled completely, that would be such a shame.” Another, on the other hand, replies: “Really? You would pay to go to a venue and watch a hologram mime Amy Winehouse songs? I'm trying to understand why that would be a good night out.”