George Michael will return to the stage as a hologram, his estate has revealed.
The late pop star will resume ‘live public performances’ as early as next year, according to documents filed at Companies House.
George passed away on December 25 in 2016. The singer died aged 53 from natural causes, stemming from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and a fatty liver.
The sensational comeback will stun fans who had previously been warned that a hologram tour was unlikely to be sanctioned because the technology was not good enough.
There were also ‘ethical questions’ about bringing George back, his former Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley admitted in an interview last year.
George Michael (pictured in September 2012) will return to the stage as a hologram as early as next year, his estate has revealed
But those concerns appear to have been swept aside as the value of his estate doubled to almost £30million amidst revived interest in his music.
Accounts filed by the star’s Nobby’s Hobbies Holdings firm show he made an astonishing £55,000 a day from beyond the grave last year.
The documents also stated: ‘Activity at the group will broaden in the next one to three years to include live public performances.’
Wham! star Andrew, 60, previously spoke of his excitement at the possibility of bringing back his bandmate, who died in 2016 aged 53.
Explaining he was inspired by the ABBA Voyage hologram tour, he said: ‘My thinking would be, ‘Fantastic!’ To have Wham! At its pomp, playing live.’
But he added: ‘Of course, there are ethical questions. And that decision would be a mutual decision between myself and [George Michael’s] estate, should it ever come to it.
‘And I can’t speak for them, I don’t know how they would feel about it. But I think it could be done, and I think it could be done exceptionally well. I’d pay to go and see it!’
ABBA Voyage has pumped £322million into the British economy – with more than a million tickets bought at up to £181.50 each – it was revealed last month.
George (pictured in 2012) passed away on December 25 in 2016. The singer died aged 53 from natural causes, stemming from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and a fatty liver
The comeback will stun fans who had been warned that a hologram tour was unlikely because the technology was not good enough (pictured: Wham! stars George and Andrew Ridgeley)
The 90-minute concert showcases so-called ‘Abbatar’ versions of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
Despite Andrew being inspired by its success, George’s former song writing partner and friend David Austin ruled out bringing his pal back as a hologram.
Speaking in 2022 at the launch of the Freedom Uncut documentary, he pointed to efforts to bring back rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot dead in 1996.
Austin said: ‘We were going to see if we could do a hologram idea in the middle of the Royal Albert Hall. But I went around to some people who did the Tupac hologram and they were really s***.
‘The problem with holograms is people just don’t engage, 20 minutes in, people are on their phone. There won’t be a ‘HoloWham’.’
‘I went to see a company in Milan there and one in Vegas. There were some people who were ahead of the game and there were some people who weren’t, but it just didn’t work.’
George’s popularity has rocketed since then and the Wham! Documentary proved a huge hit on Netflix last year.
Wham!’s Last Christmas classic then topped the charts for four weeks over the festive season, 39 years after it was first released in an impressive milestone.
The 1984 perennial favourite, penned by George, has topped the charts in the past, but never in the last week before Christmas.
It was denied the top spot in the year of its release by Band Aid’s barnstorming Do They Know It’s Christmas?.
Wham! star Andrew, 60, previously spoke of his excitement at the possibility of bringing back his bandmate and said he was inspired by the ABBA Voyage hologram tour (pictured)
After the success of the Wham! documentary, the band’s hit Last Christmas topped the charts for four weeks over the festive season, 39 years after it was first released
In September 2022, George had reached No2 in the charts with a remastered version of his 1996 album, Older.
George’s company Nobby’s Hobbies Holding Limited Account filed their accounts on Monday, with latest figures revealing it made a staggering £20million pre-tax profit.
Earnings rolled in the period of 12 months ending in March 2023 with £20.6million in publishing income, £2.5million in record royalties and an extra £600,000, The Sun reported.
George’s company made a gross turnover of £23,777,223 in 2023, nearly £2million more than 2022 figures of £21,942,692.
A documentary on the band, by bandmember Andrew Ridgeley, was released on Netflix in June to mark their 40th anniversary.
Fans said they were left with ‘goosebumps’ after watching the ‘beautiful’ documentary which featured a wealth of unseen material.
One of its producers, Simon Halfon, says his team spent over two years digging for footage and audio.
After Wham! made number one, Andrew said George would be ‘beside himself’ to know that Last Christmas finally got the Christmas number one.
Upon receiving the news, Andrew, 60, remarked that he and his bandmate – whom he nicknamed Yog – had always measured their success in Wham! by chart positions and how it had been such a ‘disappointment’ to them both when it stalled at number two.
He told Official Charts: ‘George would be beside himself after all of these years to finally obtain.
Andrew shot to fame alongside George (right) as part of pop duo Wham! in the 1980s, but their festive classic had never bagged the Christmas number one until now
After Wham! made number one, Andrew said George would be ‘beside himself’ to know that Last Christmas finally got the Christmas number one
‘Yog and I perceived music largely in the sense of the Official Charts. We always contextualised our success by our chart success.
‘It was a huge disappointment to us both when it didn’t reach No1 because in our opinion, it was nailed on.
‘Had it not been for Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? it probably would have been No1. ‘
Andrew went on to add that the new feat will be the ‘crowning glory’ for the 1980s duo as he noted the song was always intended to be number one in the first place.
He said: ‘It’ll mean a lot to Wham!’s legacy, it’s the crowning glory. Last Christmas was conceived as a Christmas No1. Lofty ambitions, but Yog set lofty ambitions for himself as a songwriter.’
