Celebrity Hologram Show Odds: David Bowie Tipped To Join Abba As Digital Avatar

The Abba Voyage hologram show has been a huge success since it began 2022, and several other celebrities are expected to follow suit.  

The London-based concert residency, which features digital avatars of the Swedish pop group, is one of the most visited attractions in England's capital city and shipped more than one million tickets in its first year.  

Several stars, past and present, have been linked on betting sites to following in Abba's footsteps.  

In May, Elvis Evolution, which will see the great Elvis Presley brought back to life virtually as part of an immersive concert experience, will open in London.  

Whitney Houston has also been given the hologram treatment, thanks to An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour - which spanned from 2020 to 2023 - following her death in 2012, aged 48.  

And rockers KISS are planning their own "hologram era". 

In 2023, the group announced their digital avatars will keep them on the road thanks to a hologram show, which is set to begin in 2027.  

But who will be next?  

Bowie Back As Hologram?  

David Bowie is the 11/8 favourite on betting apps to return to the stage as a hologram next.  

It was previously reported that the late music legend's name was formally trademarked under a classification that includes avatars.  

A source previously told The Sun newspaper: "Avatar shows are big business and Abba’s groundbreaking show has proved there is a huge demand. 

"Getting David on stage again in the form of a hologram would be huge." 

The first tickets for a hologram show featuring Brit icon Bowie, who passed away in 2016 aged 69, would no doubt be snapped up quickly, as would one featuring George Michael, who also died in 2016.  

The Careless Whisper hitmaker was just 53 when he passed, but he is just 2/1 to be the next big celebrity to return in hologram form.  

Last year, documents filed by the late star's Nobby's Hobbies Holdings company at Companies House, and obtained by MailOnline, revealed he made a massive £55,000 a day from beyond the grave in 2023.  

The papers also claimed "live public performances" will "broaden" the group's "activity" in the next one to three years.  

Next Celebrity Hologram Show Odds:

George's good friend and Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley previously admitted he would love to see the group return to the stage for an Abba Voyage-type show, but confessed it would raise some "ethical questions".  

Speaking on Newsnight in 2023, he said: "My thinking would be, ‘Fantastic!' To have Wham! at its pomp, playing live. 

"Of course, there are ethical questions. And that decision would be a mutual decision between myself and [George Michael’s] estate, should it ever come to it. 

"And I can’t speak for them; I don’t know how they would feel about it. But I think it could be done, and I think it could be done exceptionally well. I’d pay to go and see it!" 

Simply The Best  

Another huge music star who looks set for a hologram comeback is Tina Turner.  

According to the Sunday Mirror, the American superstar's estate has filed an application to trademark her name in virtual reality, which could lead to a digital avatar of the late singer - who passed away in 2023, aged 83 - appearing on stage and blasting out her hits in the future.  

The publication states the name "Tina Turner" is said to have been registered for "use in virtual environments; entertainment services, namely, coordinating and facilitating virtual events and concerts; entertainment services".  

It's just 6/4 that a Tina Turner celebrity hologram show gets off the ground, and it's 5/1 for an Amy Winehouse digital avatar to be selling out arenas soon.   

In 2019, an Amy Winehouse hologram tour was in development.

However,  the project was postponed after Base Hologram, the company working on it, encountered some "unique challenges and sensitivities" on the way to "remembering Amy Winehouse and her legacy in the most celebratory and respectful way possible".  

The Show Must Go On  

Other huge stars who could feature in hologram shows of the future include one of the greatest frontmen of all time - Queen singer Freddie Mercury.  

In 2023, Queen guitarist Brian May told The Graham Norton Radio Show podcast: "We've talked about - and looked at - very seriously, holograms of Freddie and stuff.  

"Now, when we're all gone, yeah sure, make an Abba thing about us. But while we're here I want to play live. I don't want to be a hologram - I want to be me." 

However, last year it was reported by The Sun newspaper that a company that manages Break Free star Freddie's back catalogue had filed a trademark for his name in virtual reality.  

It's just 3/1 that a Freddie Mercury hologram show materialises, and a massive 20/1 that Prince gets the digital avatar treatment - after he had previously described holograms as "demonic".  

In 2018, Prince's former fiancee Sheila E told Entertainment Tonight: "Prince did tell me [to] make sure nobody ever does a hologram of me. ‘If you’re still here, make sure nobody does a hologram.’ He thought it was very demonic and that’s his spiritual beliefs." 

However, like Abba, several bands look set to turn to hologram shows in the future.  

Oasis are just 4/1 to do so, after Noel Gallagher previously said he would be "bang up" for a digital avatar run of gigs after watching Abba Voyage.  

Speaking on Matt Morgan’s podcast, he said: "I was very impressed by it to be honest, but, yeah, if anybody wants to do an Oasis one, give us a shout. I would be bang up for it.  

"I’d say ‘great’, speak to that guy over there and then come up with a figure and then he’ll relay it to me and I’ll say either yes or no." 

What's more, Black Sabbath are 11/2 for a hologram show, which could see them switch their frontmen around during the show.  

Ozzy Osbourne is to reunite with the band this summer for their last-ever live gig, Back to the Beginning, at Villa Park in Birmingham.  

Should Sabbath go digital, they could either have Ozzy, late vocalist Ronnie James Dio - who recorded three albums with the band after Ozzy got the boot in 1979 - or Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, who sang on the group's 1983 album Born Again, fronting their hologram performance.  

* Reminder: These are hypothetical odds provided by industry experts.