Ray Charles tops holographic poll

Two weeks ago, Tupac Shakur walked on the stage at the Coachella Festival, even though he has been dead for fifteen years. It was all through the magic of technology and a very advanced hologram of a performance by the rap icon from when he was living.

The "performance" set off a worldwide debate on whether this was a good or a bad thing (remember the outcry when movie trickery had Fred Astaire dancing with a vacuum cleaner instead of a hat rack?). Members of the Jackson family said they wanted a hologram of Michael on their tour and people started talking about who else they might resurrect on the stage.

Reuters asked California company E-Polls to put together a survey asking who people thought should be technologically brought back from the dead. 1,100 people were polled and the results were ranked by fan appeal, audience awareness and perception of talent.

Amazingly, it was not Elvis Presley, John Lennon or Frank Sinatra, all artists who might be expected to gain the most votes, that topped the poll. It was R&B great Ray Charles who ranked the highest based on the public's response.

Second was a tie between Johnny Cash and Presley followed by Lennon and Sinatra. Michael Jackson only managed 11th place and the man who started the debate, Tupac Shakur, only placed 16th.

Here's the top ten:

Ray Charles
Johnny Cash
Elvis Presley
John Lennon
Frank Sinatra
Bob Marley
James Brown
Whitney Houston
George Harrison
Jimi Hendrix