The King of Pop, Michael Jackson himself (sort of), took the Billboard Music Awards to a new level this past Sunday after a hologram performance caught everyone off guard.

The song of the hour, complete with a moonwalk and all, was Slave to the Rhythm, off MJ’s posthumous Xscape album (which debuted at #1 is 50 countries last week).

Arguably the biggest superstar to ever grace the stage, Michael Jackson appeared in front of the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to thousands of screaming and extremely emotional fans. As soon as the curtain opened, the King of Pop was rising up from a gold throne and began performing as the crowd watched in awe. Jackson, backed by a group of dancers, left the crowd in tears as they chanted his name while he “walked off”.

Holographic appearances have come a long way in the past 5-7 years, especially on the music front. So far, Tupac, Eazy E and ODB have all been re-envisioned with the advancing technology and similar technology was used in 2007 for Celine Dion to sing a duet with Elvis Presley on American Idol. Needless to say, it was only a matter of time before the most renowned musician in history got his shine.

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Matt Whitlock – @mattwhitlockPM