Back in 2018, Elton John, made what seemed like one very simple request.
‘When Daddy dies,’ he recalled telling his eldest son Zachary during a conversation with NME, ‘promise me there won’t be a hologram going around the world doing concerts.’
Fast forward seven years, and it seems Sir Elton may have softened his stance.
The music legend has reportedly signed a multi-million-pound deal to star in a groundbreaking Las Vegas residency as a hologram, meaning fans could continue watching him perform long after he has taken his final bow.
The show is set to become one of the headline attractions at the new Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, which opens next summer, and promises to use technology even more advanced than London’s hugely successful ABBA Voyage.
According to reports, Elton will film performances later this year at Pinewood Studios before being digitally transformed into a lifelike hologram. He won’t be appearing alone either.
Dua Lipa, who teamed up with Elton for the chart-topping smash Cold Heart in 2021, is also expected to feature, alongside longtime collaborator Kiki Dee, who recorded Don’t Go Breaking My Heart with him almost 50 years ago.
A source told The Sun: ‘Elton, Dua and Kiki will be holograms. It’s similar to the ABBA Voyage show in London, but far more advanced as the technology has come on so much.
‘Elton signed a seven-figure deal with Hard Rock. It’s a shift away from a traditional residency and is billed as a fully immersive experience.
‘It’s going to look phenomenal.’
The project marks a surprising next chapter for Elton, who officially retired from touring after finishing his record-breaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in 2023.
Although he still performs occasional one-off shows, the 79-year-old has been increasingly selective about live appearances, particularly after revealing he has been left with severely limited vision following an eye infection.
What’s perhaps most surprising, though, is how dramatically the reported hologram deal appears to contradict Elton’s own feelings about holograms.
Speaking to NME in 2018, he admitted the thought of a digital version of himself touring the world after his death made him deeply uncomfortable.
He compared the idea to posthumous duet albums featuring deceased artists. ‘It’s like doing a duet album with someone who’s dead – it’s so spooky.’
Then, in classic Elton fashion, he summed up his feelings with rather less diplomacy.
‘Who knows – they may go broke and then put me back on the f***ing stage, but I think that’s a bit freaky.’
At the time, hologram concerts were still something of a novelty, associated more with resurrecting artists like Tupac Shakur than giving living performers a second career.
Since then, however, technology has moved on rapidly.
The phenomenal success of ABBA Voyage has shown that audiences are more than happy to pay to watch digital versions of their favourite artists, even when the real stars are sitting comfortably at home.
And if reports are accurate, Elton is about to become the latest music icon to embrace that future.
After all, if your farewell tour has already ended, perhaps the only logical next step is to let your hologram take it from here.
Metro has contacted representatives of Elton John for comment.