Dio Disciples guitarist Craig Goldy has described the hologram of Ronnie James Dio as a way of giving the late icon back to his fans – rather than attempt to raise the dead.
The projection of the vocalist was debuted at the Wacken festival in Germany earlier this year, and his widow Wendy confirmed plans were being made to make it part of a festival set in 2017.
Goldy – who played four stints with Dio between 1986 and the singer’s death in 2010 – tells Loudwire: “What we tried to do as a gift to the fans was to give them him.
“It wasn’t like we were trying to raise him from the dead. We know he’s gone, but he’s not gone.
“People love him because of the kind of person he was. Ronnie brought that ‘Oh my God’ moment, so that’s what we tried to do in a similar way, just to keep that alive.”
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Wendy insisted in August that Dio would have approved of the projection. Now she says: “If you saw the Sacred Heart tour when we had the crystal ball that came down with Ronnie’s head in it, we were trying to create a hologram then.
“We thought this would be good for a lot of people who loved Ronnie and would love to see him again, as well as the fans who didn’t get the opportunity to see him.”
She adds that Dio Disciples aim to play as many as six songs with the hologram during next year’s show. Jeff Pezzuti, boss of development firm Eyellusion, adds: “It’ll be a bigger show and a lot of fun for everybody.”
