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Rock

‘Elvis Evolution’ Immersive AI Hologram Show Coming to London in Winter 2024

Show promises to blur "the lines between reality and fantasy."

Elvis Presley performs on June 27, 1968.

Elvis Presley performs on June 27, 1968.

Michael Ochs Archives/GI

More than half a century after his first comeback, Elvis Presley is combing back, again. U.K. company Layered Reality announced this week that it is prepping an holographic AI concert special entitled “Elvis Evolution” that is slated to debut in London in November.

In a statement announcing the special event, immersive experience specialists (The Gunpowder Plot) Layered Reality promise that the mind-blowing “concert finale” featuring the King of Rock will feature a “jaw-dropping” performance and a “personal invite to the After Party.”


“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,” reads a statement announcing the show. “A life sized digital Elvis will share his most iconic songs and moves for the very first time on a UK stage.”

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The show promises to use Layered Reality’s patented blend of “technology, augmented reality, theatre, projection and multi-sensory effects” to reproduce the late rock icon for his first-ever shows outside of North America nearly half a century after Presley’s 1977 death.

“Elvis fans can look forward to a memory-making experience like no other. Through AI and groundbreaking tech you’ll be able to witness iconic Elvis performances as if you were really there, and celebrate defining moments in Elvis Presley’s extraordinary life and career,” the statement continues. “After the show, the central London venue will also host an After Party at its ELVIS-themed restaurant and bar with live music, DJs and performances.”

At press time the name of the London venue hosting the event had not yet been revealed. In a video tease, Layered Reality founder and CEO Andrew McGuinness promised that the show will go on a global tour after its London debut — reportedly hitting Las Vegas, Berlin and Tokyo as well — following a deal reached with the owner of the Presley estate, Authentic Brands Group.

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“You’re going to go on a journey and really understand what Elvis went through during his life,” McGuinness said. “The end of this experience is a real crescendo, where you’ll see a life-sized Elvis in AI perform some of his biggest hits.” The Elvis AI show will follow on the heels of the hit London show “ABBA Voyage,” which digitally recreated the beloved Swedish pop band via digital avatars.

One of the best-selling artists in music history with over 500 million records sold worldwide, Elvis, who died at 42, has been everywhere over the past two years thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominated biopic Elvis and Sofia Coppola’s Golden Globe-nominated Priscilla. The rock legend was also back in the Billboard Hot 100 top 20 over the Christmas holiday when his 1957 classic “Blue Christmas” hit No. 18 on the chart dated Jan. 6, 2024, marking the first time one of his songs has has charted since “Way Down” peaked at No. 18 in Oct. 1977.

Watch the preview clip below.

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Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 perform on stage during Day 3 of Hurricane Festival 2024 at Eichenring on June 23, 2024 in Scheessel, Germany.
Matt Jelonek/Getty Images

Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 perform on stage during Day 3 of Hurricane Festival 2024 at Eichenring on June 23, 2024 in Scheessel, Germany.

Chart Beat

Sum 41 Scores Second Alternative Airplay No. 1 This Year With ‘Dopamine’

The band's second and third No. 1s have led over two decades after its first in 2001.

After earning its first No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart in over two decades earlier this year, Sum 41 scores another as “Dopamine” rises a spot to No. 1 on the Nov. 30-dated survey.

The song follows the two-week Alternative Airplay command for “Landmines” in March. The latter led 22 years, five months and three weeks after Sum 41’s first No. 1, “Fat Lip,” in August 2001, rewriting the record for the longest break between rulers for an act in the chart’s 36-year history. It shattered the previous best test of patience, held by The Killers, who waited 13 years and six months between the reigns of “When You Were Young” in 2006 and “Caution” in 2020.

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