Back in 2016, audiences at Wacken Open Air witnessed for the first time ever a Ronnie James Dio hologram. Since then, the hologram has made several other appearances as well. Dio passed away in 2010, so being able to see the legendary metalhead on stage – even in hologram form – is surreal without a doubt.
That said, this Ronnie James Dio hologram did not go over super well with everyone. Whether it is the Dio hologram or that of the Tupac hologram, there has been debate over whether or not such technology should be used to present musicians who have passed away.
During a recent interview on The Rockman Power Hour, Ronnie James Dio’s widow, Wendy Dio, spoke to the Dio hologram, sharing “I don’t wanna do it again.” Ultimately, it appears that she does not want the Dio hologram to be a recurring thing. This is what she had to say regarding the subject (the following was transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“It was an experiment that we did. It was 50/50 — some people hated it; some people loved it. It was something we did. I don’t wanna do it again. This time now I’m gonna do real Ronnie. I’ve got all this video footage from Rainbow and some [Black] Sabbath and Dio and even some Elf stuff, and I wanna put that together with a live band and take that out. ‘Cause I think that’ll be something that kids will really wanna see — stuff that they’ve never seen before as well.”
What are your thoughts regarding holograms of musicians who have passed away? Would you want to see a show that featured a Ronnie James Dio hologram? Below you can find the full video interview that features Wendy Dio. We also included a video of that 2016 Wacken Open Air show.
In a different interview from this past June, Wendy spoke to how the Netflix/Stranger Things team reached out to her and requested the authentic Dio jacket that appears within Stranger Things season four. Link to that story is below.
‘He would’ve loved that’: Wendy Dio Comments On Dio Jacket Appearing In Stranger Things