Following his courtroom battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp’s return to showbiz will be an album with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck.
Johnny Depp has already joined Jeff Beck in a series of UK performances, even missing his court case verdict that his ex defamed him. At their latest appearance in Gateshead, Depp didn’t mention the case — although the BBC quoted Beck saying, “What a result.”
“I met this guy five years ago and we’ve never stopped laughing since,” Beck then told the crowd. “We actually made an album. I don’t know how it happened. It will be out in July.”
Calling themselves “musical soulmates,” the two recently released a cover of John Lennon’s “Isolation,” which Depp sang at the Gateshead performance. He also sang lead on covers of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” Killing Joke’s “The Death and Resurrection Show,” Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” and The Everly Brothers’ “Let It Be Me.”
“He looked really happy,” one fan told the BBC of Johnny Depp at the Gateshead gig. “The crowd was behind him and I think he gave people what they wanted to see.”
“I’ve been a huge fan of his since I was about 10,” said another fan. “And this is just mind-boggling that he’s here.”
Not everyone was impressed by Depp’s performance; as one Jeff Beck fan told the BBC, “The thing that spoiled the whole night was the talentless Mr. Depp. He was like a drunken pub singer at one point. I don’t know what Jeff Beck’s thinking of.”
Depp has long cited music as his first love, increasingly focusing on it over his acting career. Most notably, he is a member of Alice Cooper’s supergroup Hollywood Vampires, with whom Depp has released two studio albums.
The group also features Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and takes its name from the celebrity drinking club Alice Cooper formed in the 70s. The drinking club included legendary musicians John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and Micky Dolenz. As a performing group, Hollywood Vampires has featured guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, Christopher Lee, and Zak Starkey.