Contrary to reports, Prince will not appear as a hologram during Justin Timberlake's Super Bowl Halftime show Sunday night. Sheila E., a close friend and collaborator of Prince's, revealed she had spoken to Timberlake Saturday night. "[He] shared heartfelt words of respect for Prince & the Purple fans," she wrote in a tweet. "I look 4wrd 2 seeing what I’m sure is going 2 be a spectacular halftime show. There is no hologram."
Earlier Saturday, Sheila had spoken out against reports that Prince would appear as a hologram, stating that the late singer “told me don’t ever let anyone do a hologram of me.” A second quote from a 1997 interview with Guitar World magazine confirmed these beliefs. "That whole virtual reality thing... it really is demonic," Prince says in the conversation. "And I am not a demon. Also, what they did with that Beatles song ["Free As a Bird"], manipulating John Lennon's voice to have him singing from across the grave... that'll never happen to me. To prevent that kind of thing from happening is another reason why I want artistic control."
It is unclear from Sheila's statement whether a hologram performance was ever planned in the first place.
Seeing that the Super Bowl is taking place in Prince's hometown of Minneapolis, it's likely that some sort of tribute will be taking place. There is also speculation about other guests at JT's performance, but reports indicate that neither N*SYNC or Janet Jackson will be making appearances. Janet confirmed herself that she will not take part in the Halftime show on Saturday.