Brace yourself, Elvis fans. You’re about to get all shook up.
Elvis Presley may have died in 1977, but thanks to the power of artificial intelligence, the King of Rock ‘n Roll will be stepping into his blue suede shoes once again.
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The legendary singer from Tupelo, Miss., is set to thrill audiences in “Elvis Evolution,” an “immersive concert experience” that uses AI and holographic projection.
The show will debut in London in November. But if you can’t make it to England, that’s all right, mama, that’s all right for you, because additional shows are slated for Berlin, Tokyo and Las Vegas, where Presley had a seven-year residency from 1969 to 1976.
“Man, I really like Vegas,” he once reportedly said.
The British immersive entertainment company Layered Reality partnered with Authentic Brands Group, which owns the rights to Elvis’ image, to create the event.
Performing for a new generation
“The show peaks with a concert experience that will recreate the seismic impact of seeing Elvis live for a whole new generation of fans, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy,” Layered Reality said on its website. “A life-sized digital Elvis will share his most iconic songs and moves for the very first time on a UK stage.”
The company previously made immersive experiences based on the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and “The War of The Worlds.”
“Elvis Evolution is a next-generation tribute to the musical legend that is Elvis Presley,” Andrew McGuinness, chief executive of Layered Reality, said, according to The Guardian. “Elvis maintains superstar status globally and people around the world no longer want to sit there and passively receive entertainment – they want to be a part of it.”
The show will also offer an after-party Elvis-themed bar and restaurant on site at the central London location, with live music, DJs and performances.
The news comes as Presley returns to the Billboard Hot 100’s top 20 with his classic 1957 hit “Blue Christmas,” which jumped to No. 18, from No. 25, on the chart dated Jan. 6.
Of course, Presley never actually vanished from the pop culture landscape.
‘Greatest cultural force in the 20th century’
Even after all these years, many people still have a hunka, hunka burnin’ love for him.
Leonard Bernstein, the legendary composer and conductor of the New York Philharmonic, once said that “Elvis Presley is the greatest cultural force in the 20th century.”
“He introduced the beat to everything and he changed everything – music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution – the ’60s come from it,” he said, according to Time.
Elvis Presley is the second-highest paid dead celebrity in the world, according to Forbes, pulling in $100 million last year and coming in just behind Michael Jackson.
He has been the subject of biopics, documentaries, books, and has provided paychecks for a virtual army of Elvis impersonators.
On screen he has been portrayed by the likes of Aaron Butler, Kurt Russell, Michael Shannon and Don Johnson to name just a few.
Every year roughly 600,000 people tour Graceland, Presley’s Memphis, Tenn., mansion that was named to the American National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Perhaps some of those visitors will be heading to London come November.
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