RONNIE JAMES DIO Hologram To Embark On 'Dio Returns' World Tour; First Dates Announced

A hologram of the late Ronnie James Dio made its U.S. debut this past February at the 28th annual Pollstar Awards at the The Novo (formerly Club Nokia) in Los Angeles, California. Created by Eyellusion, the appearance of the heavy metal icon took place during a performance by DIO DISCIPLES, which pays tribute to Ronnie and is fully supported by his widow/manager, Wendy.

The Dio hologram was first introduced at last year’s Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.

A world tour featuring the hologram, which will showcase various eras of the legendary metal singer’s career, will kick off with a European leg of performances in theaters on November 30 in Helsinki before hitting South America, Australia and Asia. The tour, dubbed “Dio Returns”, will arrive in the U.S. in the spring of 2018 and hit select festivals next summer.

“In 1986, for the ‘Sacred Heart’ tour, Ronnie and I created the crystal ball with Ronnie filmed and speaking in a suspended crystal ball effect, done with back projection, which was the closest we could get to a hologram,” the singer’s widow, Wendy Dio, tells Rolling Stone. “Ronnie was always wanting to experiment with new stage ideas and was a big Disney fan. With this said, I am sure he is giving us his blessing with this hologram project. It gives the fans that saw Ronnie perform an opportunity to see him again and new fans that never got to see him a chance to see him for the first time. We hope everyone will enjoy the show that we have all worked so hard to put together.”

According to Wendy, the show will feature performances of at least half a dozen of the late vocalist’s hits, including “Holy Diver”, “Rainbow In The Dark”, “We Rock”, “King Of Rock And Roll”, BLACK SABBATH‘s “Neon Knights” and “Heaven And Hell” and RAINBOW‘s “Man On The Silver Mountain”. The production uses audio of Dio‘s live performances from throughout his career backed by a live band consisting of former DIO members Simon Wright (drums), Craig Goldy (guitar) and Scott Warren (keyboards) alongside bassist Bjorn Englen (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN). They will joined by singers Tim “Ripper” Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) and Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB) on select dates.

During an appearance on the “Talk Toomey” podcast, Wendy spoke about plans for a tour featuring the hologram, saying: “I feel that Ronnie was an innovator in music, and why not be an innovator in technology also? He tried to make a hologram in 1986. When we had the [DIO] ‘Sacred Heart’ tour, we did the big crystal ball with Ronnie‘s head in there talking, which was actually done with a rear projection, but we were always trying to do new things and exciting things. In fact, his personal [assistant] just called me a couple of weeks ago and he said, ‘Hey, Wendy, I just found this interview that Ronnie did a long time ago, and they were asking Ronnie [if he had] plans to retire, and ‘What will you do when you retire?’ And he said, ‘Well, I don’t think I’ll ever retire. I’ll probably die on stage. Or if I don’t, I’m sure Wendy will find something for me to do after.’ [Laughs] So I thought that was quite funny.”

Wendy, who manages DIO DISCIPLES and is affiliated with the Eyellusion team, also spoke about the response the hologram has gotten from Ronnie‘s fans and other musicians. “Some [reactions] are positive, some are negative,” she said. “If you’ve actually seen it… I think the people that have actually seen it are very positive. We debuted it at Wacken last year in Germany for seventy-five thousand people, and they were all totally, totally blown away. And also, it’s never been done before, because this is a live band — Ronnie‘s live band that he played with for the last seventeen years, with Ronnie, with a live track of Ronnie‘s. And it was so realistic; everybody was, like, crying, and it was very moving. And I think it’s great for the fans that never saw Ronnie, that are able to come and see him. And for the ones that did see him that would love to see him again up on stage.”

Hologram world tours have previously been announced, but never come to fruition. In 2015, it was announced that Whitney Houston would go on the road in holographic form, but a leak of a duet with Christina Aguilera, which suggested the hologram was not up to scratch, led to the withdrawal of the Houston hologram by her estate.

According to Wendy, it’s only a matter of time before other rock legends return to life through holograms, the three-dimensional light projections that have opened new frontiers for the live music and other industries. “Absolutely,” she said. “I think the company that we’re working with is talking to a lot of different people. And I think it’s the way of the future. It’s like people were, ‘Ooooh…’ when the eight-track came out, ‘Ooooh, what’s this?’ And then cassette. ‘Oooh, what’s this?’ And digital, ‘What’s this? Oh, we don’t wanna do that. We only want analog. We don’t want digital.’ But you know what? It’s technology. And also, we’re losing our legends day by day; we’re losing the innovators of metal and hard rock music; we’re losing ’em every day. What are we gonna do? I don’t see a lot of bands coming up to take their place.”

Goldy defended DIO DISCIPLES‘ decision to perform with the Dio hologram, saying: “We know how much the fans miss Ronnie and the special and unequaled element that he brought to his live performances. Being able to recreate that same kind of magic for his fans at Wacken was incredible. For so many years, Ronnie always invested big in his live shows as his way to give back to the fans, and that is exactly what we aimed to do with this latest performance. We can’t wait to bring this experience to even more of his fans and perhaps even a newer generation when we bring this incredible live experience on the road.”

“Dio Returns” tour dates

Nov. 30 – Helsinki, Finland @ The Circus
Dec. 03 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Fryshuset
Dec. 04 – Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller Music Hall
Dec. 06 – Warsaw, Poland @ Progresja
Dec. 13 – Barcelona, Spain @ Bikini
Dec. 15 – Santander, Spain @ Escenario Santander
Dec. 17 – Bucharest, Romania @ Arelene Romane
Dec. 20 – Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix
Dec. 21 – Tilburg, Netherlands @ 013