DIO hologram will return to the road this spring
The Ronnie James Dio hologram will return to the road this spring.
Although no tour dates have yet been announced, Ronnie's widow and manager Wendy Diotold The Metal Voice at this past Wedneday's (January 15) Metal Hall Of Fame event in Anaheim, California that fans can expect to see a digital version of the legendary heavy metal singer back on tour in May and June.
Dio died in 2010 at the age of 67 from stomach cancer. The singer's hologram was created by a company called Eyeillusion and made its debut at the Wacken Open Air festival in August 2016 in front of more than 75,000 fans.
After the tour's initial seven-date run was completed in December 2017, Ronnie's hologram underwent some changes before the launch of the first 2019 leg of the "Dio Returns", which kicked off in late May in Fort Myers, Florida and concluded at the end of June in Los Angeles, California.
The Dio hologram production uses audio of Ronnie's live performances from throughout his career, with the DIO band playing live, consisting of Craig Goldy on guitar, Simon Wright on drums and Scott Warren on keyboards, along with Bjorn Englen on bass. Also appearing with them are former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens and ex-LYNCH MOB frontman Oni Logan.
The "Dio Returns" 17-song set consists of seven tunes sung by the Dio hologram — the rest feature Owens and Logan separately or together — and encompasses material from Dio's lengthy career, including his earlier days in RAINBOW and BLACK SABBATH.
