Ronnie James Dio received a hologram of himself a few years ago, but his ex-wife, Wendy Dio, stated that she will no longer use the technology.
She appeared on Ray Shasho , Interviewing The Legends , and spoke about the use of a Ronnie James Dio hologram in concerts ( via Blabbermouth ): "[The hologram] worked for a while. It was 50-50 – [50 percent of] people loved it, 50 [percent of] people hated it. It was done. It was an experiment. We succeeded. I think it worked well at the time. But I'm not going to do it again."
She spoke about future plans to honor the vocalist: “We’re planning to go out with Dio Disciples next year, but I’m going to use videos of Ronnie and different eras of whatever pieces we have, and it’s just going to be a trip down memory lane again with different things for Ronnie, with the band playing. So, yeah, I’m working on it. We’ll have special effects with it. And I hope it’s going to be a good show.”
When Wendy Dio appeared on Hangin' & Bangin': Artists On Lockdown , she revealed how she felt upon seeing the image of her ex-husband again: “When I first saw it, I cried. Then I got used to it because it wasn't Ronnie.”
The first time they used Dio's hologram was in 2016 at the Wacken Open Air . Based on the singer's performances, they created the technology, and the band accompanied it during the show.
Holograms in concerts
The use of holograms to simulate musicians who are no longer with us has been employed by some of the biggest names in the industry, the most famous of them being ABBA . Queen has also been using similar technology to emulate Freddie Mercury .
In addition, Keith Richards recently spoke to Apple Music 1 about the use of holograms in Rolling Stones concerts : " I'm sure it's going to happen. Do I want it? That's another matter."
Another band that also considered using the tool was Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page stated , the project didn't go ahead due to disagreements among the band members .
READ MORE: Geezer Butler talks about reconciliation with Ronnie James Dio: “I was very happy”
