Plans for an Amy Winehouse hologram tour have been put on hold, with the company in charge of creating a digital version of the star admitting they’ve faced “unique challenges and sensitivities”.
The project was first announced last October and despite the fact Amy’s dad, Mitch, insisted all profits would go to the foundation set up in her name, many fans felt uneasy about the news.
But BASE Hologram have now stated that the tour has been postponed, announcing the news on Twitter:
The company’s chairman, Brian Becker, has also issued a longer statement to Billboard.
“Developing our productions is a cross between a Broadway show and a concert spectacle which requires creative engineering and that type of creativity does not necessarily follow a schedule,” he said. “And that’s what happened with Amy Winehouse, we promised to celebrate her life in the most respectful way possible [...] and to ensure we keep that promise we are putting the tour on hold while we plot out a creatively spectacular production fitting of her remarkable career.”
The tour has been slated to start late last year and was due to feature a hologram version of Amy with real backing singers and a band.
Amy’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil was critical of the plans when they were first announced.
Appearing on This Morning, he said: “The idea that it’s anything remotely like Amy to me is misleading. It’s old footage. It can’t be anything new. It won’t be her interactions. It’s not going to be the same,” he said.
“I’m a bit concerned about whether the people going to see it, they’ll be aware it’s not Amy, there won’t be any human element to it.
“The way I feel, the actual hologram itself, is no different to watching a video clip or listening to her album. If anyone wants to see Amy on stage that opportunity has been and gone.”
Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning in July 2011, at the age of 27. Since her death, one posthumous album has been released, compiled of reworked demos and rare tracks, while a documentary about her life and career won an Oscar in 2016.