Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison To Get The Holo-Tupac Treatment?chain saw images

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison To Get The Holo-Tupac Treatment?

Estate managers for the late guitarist and Doors frontman tell Billboard they're exploring options to bring the icons back in hologram form.
By James Montgomery

Jimi Hendrix
Photo: David Redfern/ Redferns

Following in the faux footsteps of Tupac, Elvis Presley and (sort of) Freddie Mercury, the estates of other deceased legends like Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix are lining up to bring the artists back to the stage ... in hologram form.

In a new interview with Billboard, Doors manager (and Morrison estate-minder) Jeff Jampol said he hopes to create a "multimedia experience" featuring "lasers, lights, high-quality sound, vibrations [and] projected imagery," not to mention the band — and Morrison (who died in 1971) — in 3-D.

"We're trying to get to the point where 3-D characters will walk around," Jampol said, adding that he's been exploring the idea for nearly eight years with British director Jake Nava. "Hopefully, 'Jim Morrison' will be able to walk right up to you, look you in the eye, sing right at you and then turn around and walk away."

Jampol also manages the estates of Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Peter Tosh and Rick James, though there's no mention of whether he's also planning similar "live" performances from those artists.

Of course, holo-Morrison might soon have company on the stage: Billboard also spoke with Janie Hendrix, the sister of the late rock legend and Experience Hendrix president/CEO, who revealed that she's been working with London-based Musion Systems for about a year to create a virtual version of her brother, who died in 1970.

"For us, of course, it's about keeping Jimi authentically correct," she said. "There are no absolutes at this point."

In related news, the organizers of a planned Marilyn Monroe tribute concert — which would reportedly feature a projection of the actress performing with live musicians — have run afoul of lawyers for the blond bombshell's estate. According to The Hollywood Reporter, an attorney for the Monroe estate has been in contact with representatives for Digicon Media, who hold a copyright on "Virtual Marilyn," and, if the show goes on, a lawsuit could soon follow ... possibly setting the stage for a spate of similar suits between estate managers and companies who claim ownership of "virtual" likenesses of deceased celebs.

Would you want to see Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison onstage in hologram form? Leave your comment below!

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