--- title: "Never Want To Tour With Your Band Again? Send Your Hologram Instead, Like ABBA Is Doing." description: "ABBA announced their first new material since 1982, along with plans for a \"virtual tour.\" Let's hope it works out for them." date: "2018-04-27" modified: "2018-04-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/abba-virtual-hologram" categories: - "Future Society" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "abba" - "hologram" - "music" - "virtual reality" --- # Never Want To Tour With Your Band Again? Send Your Hologram Instead, Like ABBA Is Doing. ![]() *\Image: GettyImages / Emily Cho\* What do the late Tupac Shakur and Swedish pop group ABBA have in common? Seems like not much. But thanks to virtual reality, that's changing. In a statement [posted to Instagram]() on Friday, ABBA confirmed a "virtual tour" — one that was originally announced [in October 2016](). The group also announced the release of the first new material since 1982. It seems like plans for the virtual tour inspired them to record a couple of new tracks on top of it. The future of live concerts promises to be vastly different than what we're used to. Soon, holograms and giant screens will replace live performers, making you wonder why you got a ticket in the first place. [On Instagram](), the band muses: "it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!" But it's not their physical Scandinavian faces that will grace the stage at the NBC and BBC co-produced production that will be broadcasting in December — it will be their "digital selves." It's not yet clear, however, what kind of digital entities we're talking about. Will it be giant disembodied heads floating around on stage, or a projection-based affair a la [Gorillaz]()? Even a projection of Michael Jackson performed at the [2014 Billboard Music Awards](), except that he was... well, already gone. ABBA, on the contrary, is still kicking around, and by the sound of it, they are willing to record music together, too. So what's stopping them from showing up on stage, themselves? It's pretty much because they don't want to. Since it broke up in 1982, the band has [refused many requests]() to reunite on stage IRL. The December broadcast is being put together by Simon Fuller, the guy you have to thank for *American Idol* and *So You Think You Can Dance.* According to [a 2016 post]() on ABBA's Facebook page, the event will feature "the very latest in digital and virtual reality technology." Except that that was two years ago, and no further details have emerged, except for this announcement of new material. But let's have ABBA Take A Chance on this new venture. Appearing in a virtual tour is quite the gamble — reception seems to be [pretty mixed](), when it comes to virtual concert appearances. But in the end, the [winner takes it all](). ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()