‘There Is No Hologram’ – Sheila E. Shoots Down Prince Super Bowl Rumors
Longtime Prince collaborator Sheila E. has assured fans that he will not appear in hologram form as part of Justin Timberlake's Super Bowl halftime show performance in Minneapolis tonight.
"Family, I spoke w/Justin 2nite and he shared heartfelt words of respect for Prince & the Purple fans," she wrote on Twitter. "I look 4wrd 2 seeing what I’m sure is going 2 be a spectacular halftime show. There is no hologram."
The original TMZ eyewitness reports from Timberlake's rehearsals for the show only mentioned that there would be "a hologram to honor" Prince, the host city's recently departed hometown hero - which could mean anything from doves to purple rain to who knows what. But speculation and negative reaction about the image of Prince himself turning up in hologram form immediately ran rampant on the internet.
That included a pointed tweet from Sheila E. herself. "Prince told me don't ever let anyone do a hologram of me," she tweeted when the rumors first broke. "Not cool if this happens!"
There is still no confirmation that an actual Prince hologram was ever planned as part of Timberlake's show. "There is no hologram" is not the same as "the hologram has been cancelled."
Prince himself spoke out vehemently against such technology in a 1998 interview with Guitar World, calling it, "the most demonic thing imaginable. Everything is as it is, and it should be. If I was meant to jam with Duke Ellington, we would have lived in the same age. That whole virtual reality thing... it really is demonic. And I am not a demon. To prevent that kind of thing from happening is another reason why I want artistic control."
However, Prince reportedly died without leaving behind a will, leaving his estate in the control of his surviving relatives. “A hologram could be done as long as it is of excellent quality," his sister Tyka Nelson said last year. "It would have to allow the fans to experience Prince in the way he allowed us to experience his music.”