David Draiman is disturbed by Ronnie James Dio hologram

At Wacken Open Air festival in Germany in August, Dio Disciples stunned the 75,000 strong crowd when a Ronnie James Dio hologram joined them to belt out set closer ‘We Rock’.

Immediately after the performance, hologram entertainment company Eyellusion issued a press release revealing the hologram was one year in the making and there are plans afoot for it to be toured globally in 2017.

Speaking to Argentina's Vorterix radio (via Blabbermouth), Draiman said the idea of his hero Ronnie James Dio going on tour in a hologram form didn’t sit too well with him.

"It makes me sad. I'm always happy to hear any music from anybody that's left us, that we've lost. But I don't know… The hologram thing, to me, it almost isn't letting the dead be dead,” he said.  

“And… I don't know… It just seems weird. It seems no different than… Is there a difference between a hologram and a guy dressing up like Ronnie James and doing it? You know what I mean?"

Draiman added: "Ronnie was Ronnie, and he was the best in the entire damn world. Whether you're doing it with somebody like Ronnie James Dio or Michael Jackson or whomever, it just seems like, you know what? Respect the legacy.

“And me personally, I don't know… It kind of bothers me. Maybe it's because I love Ronnie so much and revere him as a god of vocal ability. So… I don't know. It just bugs me."

Ronnie's widow Wendy, who manages Dio Disciples and is a member of the Eyellusion team, said of the proposed tour back in August: “We'd like to do a whole show, with Ronnie coming in and out, doing maybe six songs, and he would come in and out during the set of the Dio band playing with him.

“We might want to do a debut in America of the same show we did in Wacken, because it's not fair for the Americans and the Canadians that didn't get to see it, whereas the Europeans did. So we might do a special show for fans and friends and press here. We're talking about that right now."

Disturbed are coming to the UK in January to support Avenged Sevenfold on their arena tour. Tickets are on sale via Planet Rock Tickets now.

See them at the following shows:

JANUARY 2017
Glasgow The SSE Hydro - Tue 10th
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena - Thu 12th
Sheffield Arena - Sun 15th
Manchester Arena - Mon 16th
Birmingham Genting Arena - Tue 17th
Cardiff Motorpoint Arena - Thu 19th
Nottingham Motorpoint Arena - Fri 20th
London The O2 Arena - Sat 21st - SOLD OUT
London The O2 Arena - Sun 22nd