Move over Tupac, there’s a new hologram sheriff in town.
Multiple news reports are confirming that a Michael Jackson hologram will perform “live” from the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. The King of Pop — on top once again with a chart-topping new posthumous record Xscape — will perform “new” track “Slave to the Rhythm,” which was first recorded during sessions for Bad, and then revived for 1991’s Dangerous sessions before finally being completed 1998. It was never properly released until this year, and in the past the Jackson estate had fought internet bootlegs of the track.
But now it’ll be known as the song a deceased Jackson performs live with the help of computer graphics.
Can a hologram see the Man in the Mirror?
According to the NME:
The performance was supposed to be a secret, but a ruling by a federal judge which rejected a lawsuit from hologram companies Hologram USA Inc and Musion Das Hologram Ltd – who made the Tupac hologram at 2012’s Coachella Festival and hoped to stop the performance – made the news of the event public, reports LA Times.
The hologram companies wanted to the halt the performance after alleging that a competitor was using their technology without their permission. Judge Kent Dawson said there was insufficient evidence to prove that Hologram USA Inc and Musion Das Hologram Ltd’s patents were being used for the Jackson hologram. The Billboard Awards take place tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Jackson’s posthumous release ‘Xscape’ was released on Monday (May 12) and looks set to go straight to Number One in the UK tonight. The album includes eight unreleased songs worked on by contemporary artists and producers, including Timbaland and Stargate. The album is the project of executive producer LA Reid, who was granted unlimited access to four decades’ worth of Jackson’s vocal material.
The 2014 Billboard Music Awards, hosted by Ludacris, will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on ABC at 8 p.m. Imagine Dragons and Lorde lead the nominee field with 12 nominations each, while Justin Timberlake has 11, Katy Perry has 10, and Miley Cyrus has nine.
The Michael Jackson hologram is expected to eventually tour.