Hologram Jackie Wilson Will Tour Next Year, Too
In the years since the famous Tupac Coachella hologram, we’ve heard about plans to send holograms of a ton of deceased stars on tour: Selena, Billie Holiday, Whitney Houston. And now Billboard reports that FilmOn TV Networks is co-producing a hologram tour for Jackie Wilson, the ’60s R&B star who died in 1984.
Wilson isn’t exactly one of the canonical soul heroes of his era, but he did score a ton of great and enduring hits between 1958 and 1970. For my money, though, the most interesting thing about the whole venture is the involvement of FilmOn, the mysterious company run by shipping magnate Alki David. This is the same guy who tried to bring a hologram Chief Keef to Chicago, and who’s currently suing just about everyone involved in Keef’s most recent mixtape.
David is a tatted-up Greek billionaire who acted as Chief Keef’s patron for a long time, and who also played a pretty major role in the Jason Statham movie The Bank Job. And now he’s putting hologram Jackie Wilson on tour. Sure! Why not!
In a statement to Billboard David says, “Everything you expect from an exciting ‘rock star’ stage show was invented by Jackie Wilson: the leaps, spins and back-flips, not to mention his amazing four-octave range.”