The controversial Whitney Houstonhologram tour is set to begin in the UK this week.
Some eight years after the singer’s death, a holographic Houston will embark on a European tour that starts in Sheffield on 25 February and finishes in early April, with US dates to be announced.
“Now is just the right time,” said Pat Houston, the singer’s sister-in-law, former manager and the executor of her estate, which is producing the show in collaboration with BASE Hologram.
“In the spirit of Whitney, I know we’re doing all the right things right now.”
Houston died aged 48 in 2012 from an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, but the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use” were contributing factors in her death.
Last week, press were given a dress-rehearsal preview of the show in Burbank, California, which features Houston projected onto a nearly invisible scrim on a stage with real dancers and a live backing band.
The set includes most of her biggest hits, including “How Will I Know,” “Saving All My Love For You,” and “I Will Always Love You”, along with some unexpected rarities.
An Evening With Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour, which was first conceived five years ago, used a body double along with hundreds of hours of Houston performances and extensive CGI synthesising.
“We created the hologram the same way they did Carrie Fisher in the Star Wars movie Rogue One,” said Marty Tudor, CEO of BASE Hologram, which has previously revived performing versions of dead singers including Roy Orbison and Maria Callas. “It’s lengthy, it’s tedious, it’s a big, complicated process, but I think it worked.”
When the tour was announced last year, there was a backlash on social media, with some fans calling it “disrespectful” and a “money grab”.
Additional reporting by agencies
