The late Whitney Houston is about to take the stage, but this time it will be in holographic form.
“An Evening With Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour” is set to kick off in Sheffield, England on Feb. 25. The tour will have additional stops in the U.K. through Apr. 1. Tour stops in the United States are set to follow, but have not been released yet.
“Now is just the right time,” said Pat Houston, the sister-in-law and former manager and the executor of the estate of the late Houston. “In the spirit of Whitney, I know we’re doing all the right things right now.”
The concert will include Houston’s biggest hits like “Saving All My Love For You,” “I Will Always Love You,” and “How Will I Know.” It will also include a rendition of Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” that Houston recorded three decades ago.
“This is something that she wanted to do,” Pat said after the show’s media preview. “I get very emotional watching this, because it is so, so close to what she wanted. The only thing missing is her, physically.”
The show will be produced by BASE Hologram. The hologram combines visual effects to create Houston’s image on stage. The show will also feature a live band, backup singers, and dancers. Creators used previous images and recordings to create a life-like image of Houston.
“We created the hologram the same way they did Carrie Fisher in the Star Wars movie Rogue One,” said Marty Tudor, CEO of BASE Hologram. “It’s lengthy, it’s tedious, it’s a big, complicated process, but I think it worked.”
The show will be choreographed by the legendary Fatima Robinson, who worked with artists like Aaliyah, Usher, Sade, Rihanna, and Kendrick Lamar.
“Whitney didn’t dance a lot, but when she did do her little moves, they were so perfectly Whitney,” said Robinson. “We did lots of studying her behavior in her videos. We would study her movements, and find the best moments in some of the live videos that just really embody her.”