The last night of the first weekend of the Coachella festival featured a very special appearance. The set headlined by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg welcomed several guest stars, such as Eminem and 50 Cent, as well as the holographic image (more precisely a CGI recreation) of Tupac, who died in 1996 but appeared and performed on stage.

Being one of the most influential figures of rap music and of the ‘90s, Tupac Shakur was one of the best-selling music artists in the world, and was named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the greatest artists of all times. His music was often, but not only, focused on social issues, violence, and the war between rappers pertaining to different geographical areas.

Tupac Shakur was also well known for being one of the most self-destructive artists of the music scene; his life of risk, violence and excesses, culminated in his being shot four times on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He died on September 13 at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas. His tragic death has left rumors behind for years, with people arguing about who is really responsible for Tupac’s death.

It seemed that Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog did not care about the ‘dead’ part at Coachella on April 15. They both welcomed on stage a holographic Tupac who performed ‘Hail Mary’ before making a duet with Snoop Dog on “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” like there was nothing strange about the resurrection.

According to MTV News, the hologram’s price goes from $100,000 to $400,000; it was created and developed by AV Concepts. “We worked with Dr. Dre on this and it was Dre’s vision to bring this back to life,” said the AV Concepts president Nick Smith to MTV. “It was his idea from the very beginning and we worked with him and his camp to utilize the technology to make it come to life.”

The image of Tupac was created in approximately four months by Digital Domain, a special effects studio based in Hollywood. The studio also worked, in the past, on movies such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, TRON: Legacy and X-Men: First Class. Doubt remains on the vocals of Tupac; it is not sure whether they all come from previous recordings of the rap star or not.

For those who like the death to rest in peace, we hope the Coachella performance will stay as an isolated incident.

Image Courtesy of    AndreLucian

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About the author

Veronica Cinti
Italian native, extremely passionate about music in general. Although she appreciates a wide variety of music genres, her strongest field of expertise is Rock music, Grunge and Punk among its styles. Contact the author: veronica.cinti@toonarimedia.com; Follow Veronica on Twitter: @VeronicaCinti