Is this real life or just fantasy? Sir Brian May hints Queen could star in new Abba Voyage-style AI show
The guitarist said the band could be able to create the "original Queen again"
Sir Brian May has hinted Queen could reunite at an Abba voyage-style hologram show.
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May, 78, has revealed he and the band's drummer Roger Taylor are exploring AI technology to bring back late frontman Freddie Mercury who died in 1991, and bassist John Deacon, 74, who retried in 1997.
Speaking to Big Issue, Sir Brian said the band could be able to create the "original Queen again."
He said: "Freddie is still alive through the music that we listen to all the time.
“In a sense, John is still with us in the same way, but now we have so many other opportunities.
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"I mean things that are immersive, like The Sphere in Las Vegas, it will be possible to give people the experience very closely of what things were like for us when we were Freddie, John, Brian and Roger, and that really appeals to me.
"It wouldn’t be just playing old footage or whatever. It would be creating Queen as if we were creating it today. I’m very taken with the idea that we can be the original Queen again."
Rumours of a hologram show of the pop rock band began circulating when the company who manages Mercury’s back catalogue filed a trademark for his name in 3D and VR.
At the time representatives for Queen said there was "nothing to say."
ABBA Voyage is a virtual concert residency by the Swedish pop group, featuring virtual avatars depicting the group as they appeared in 1979 and use the original vocals.
Despite the planning, drummer Taylor, 76, said he came away from the Abba Voyage show with mixed feelings.
He said: "I had a good time. I enjoyed it, I didn't find the actual projections that convincing.
"I do think technology now has come so much further since the Abba show started, I think a lot more can be done.”
Taylor said Mercury would be “thrilled” that the band’s work is "still relevant today."
He added: "We haven’t finished yet, we can play fine, but we are getting older, and so we’re just looking at all the options, especially with the incredible technology we have now which is literally changing by the day."
Queen has had six UK number one singles and 10 UK number one albums. Some of their best known songs include Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and We Are The Champions.
Number one albums by Queen
A Night at the Opera (1976)
A Day at the Races (1977)
The Game (1980)
Greatest Hits (1981)
A Kind of Magic (1986)
The Miracle (1989)
Innuendo (1991)
Made in Heaven (1995)
Bohemian Rhapsody (1991 re-release)
Under Pressure (1981)