Rock And Roll All Night ... Forever: How Disney-Owned Technology Could Enable Virtual Avatars Of KISS

Zinger Key Points
  • Rock band KISS completed its last live tour ever, at least in physical form.
  • The band is partnering with a company used by movies and television shows to make digital avatars.

Rock and roll group KISS promises to be done touring for good after multiple farewell tours, at least in their physical form. Here's how the band could tour forever thanks to technology used for the Star Wars franchise.

What Happened: KISS performed their last concert recently, but said they will live on forever thanks to digital avatars created by Industrial Light & Magic, a company founded by Lucasfilm that was acquired by The Walt Disney Company DIS in 2012.

On Dec. 2, KISS played a final show at Madison Square Garden featuring over 20 hit songs and an encore finale with "Rock and Roll All Nite."

Following the encore, the band left the stage and digital avatars of current members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer were shown to the crowd, as reported by the Associated Press.

The band has since released a video that shows them testing out and helping create their digital avatars.

"The end is only the beginning. KISS has been immortalized and reborn as avatars to rock forever," the video description reads.

In the video, Simmons says "the future is so exciting" and the digital avatars could help perform "the best concert you've ever seen.

Stanley adds that "the band will never stop" and "the band deserves to live on."

Related Link: How Perpetually Sober KISS Co-Founder Gene Simmons Entered The Cannabis Business

Why It's Important: Industrial Light & Magic created the new digital avatars in partnership with Pophouse Entertainment Group. The two companies previously helped create digital avatars of Swedish band ABBA for a concert performance.

"KISS could have a concert in three cities in the same night across three different continents. That's what you could do with this," Pophouse Entertainment CEO Per Sundin said.

Founded by George Lucas in 1975, Industrial Light & Magic has won 15 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and been used in some of the most popular film franchise including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and multiple Marvel movies and television shows.

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Photo: Shutterstock

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