
The comprehensive site regarding Johnny Depp and his music!
2nd Annual Sheila Witkin Memorial Reunion Concerts, August 29-30, 2008
"Music
was my whole life from the age of 12 on. It was all I ever wanted to
do."
-Johnny Depp, 1990
Breaking News:
- November 6, 2009: According to The Star (UK),
Johnny will play guitar on the Babybird song, Unloveable, which will be
the lead single from their upcoming album, Ex-Maniac. Babybird's
frontman Stephen Jones says, "He came to the studio for four hours and played some stuff over the top. [Unloveable] was the natural one for us to do." Play.com
now has Ex-Maniac available for pre-order, with the track listing shown
and a UK release date of February 15, 2010 (The record label, Unison Music,
shows a release date of March 1, 2010, but perhaps that is the US
release date). Johnny also directed the music video for
Unloveable, which Jones says may "turn out to be a 10-minute short film." The video stars Jones as well as Johnny's Public
Enemies costar, Stephen Graham. Filming took place over a 2
day period (most likely Sept. 21-22) at Hatfield House in
Hertfordshire, and some behind the scenes photos were taken on the 22nd. Babybird
is a British indie band that was formed by Jones in 1995; Johnny is a longtime fan and has known Jones for about 6 years. Johnny's former Kids bandmate, Bruce Witkin, is a co-owner of the Unison label. Check the JD Rocks! Videography
page for some photos of the video shoot and additional information about the band.
Added note: rumors have been flying for a couple of weeks that
Johnny will play a live gig with Babybird in London on November 12.
While anything is possible, and I would always love to hear news
of Johnny performing live on stage, these rumors have been reported
mainly in tabloids and should therefore be treated with some hefty
grains of salt.
- October 27, 2009: The Spike TV Scream Awards were broadcast October 27, at 10 p.m. The awards ceremony took place on
October 17, and Johnny
presented the Rock Immortal Award to Keith Richards (he also accepted
an award for Most Anticipated Film-Alice In Wonderland). Johnny introduced Keith by saying, "Long after humanity incinerates itself in nuclear war, the only things left are cockcroaches... and Keith
Richards." Photo below, and check the JD Rocks! With Friends gallery for more:
- October 15, 2009: The official Vanessa Paradis website
has posted Vanessa's new video, entitled Il y a. The caption
under the video reads, "réalisé par JD," meaning that
Johnny directed the video. Johnny himself appears in at least one clip. The video is
part of Vanessa's promotion of her upcoming Best Of album, which will
be released in France on November 16 in digital format and November
23 on CD. Please visit the JD Rocks! Videography page for more info.
Recent News:
- November
2009 Sweeney
Todd updates: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber
Of Fleet Street
will
have several television airings in November and December on Cinemax-related channels- please check out the Sweeney Todd TV
Schedule. The film is already available on DVD and
Blu-ray. Check out the JD Rocks! Sweeney Todd page,
Reviews
&
Articles, and Photo
Galleries for all kinds of goodies about the film. Sweeney Todd is
Johnny's first major singing role on film.
- October 2009 YouTube Goodies #1: This
isn't news, but is something I wasn't aware of until just recently:
the original closing credits clip from the Season 2 Finale
of 21 Jump Street was
posted to YouTube
several months ago. Instead of the show's usual closing credits,
Holly Robinson sang the old classic, See You In September, featuring among the participants
Johnny on guitar and Sal Jenco singing backup. Unfortunately,
these closing credits were not included on the DVD release of Season 2.
Some caps have been available for years on Kazren's Oh Johnny!
site, but I haven't heard the actual song before now. Very cool!
- October 2009 YouTube Goodies #2: Some high quality videos of P's performance at SXSW on March 17, 1993 have been posted to YouTube. The info reads: "DaveTV.org
brings you P Live at The Austin Music Awards 3/17/93 by davetv.org
I was lucky enough to produce & direct this gem. Thanks to my
stellar volunteer crew that made this possible. This has never - ever,
anywhere, been seen in this entire, unedited, from the master tape
version. I decided with the loss of Jim Carroll, and since P did the
Jim anthem, I would put this out as my dedication to Jim Carroll. I
hope you people do the right thing, enjoy this freely. Please
support all the bands & don't sell this. DAVETV: http://www.davetv.org/ and http://www.rawtime.com/" Jim Carroll, rocker and poet who wrote People Who Died, passed away in September at the age of 60, from a
heart attack. His troubled youth
was chronicled in his autobiography The Basketball Diaries, which later
became a film with Leonardo DiCaprio. Some screen caps from these SXSW clips can be found on the P On Stage Photo Gallery. The links to the YouTubes are as follows:
- October 2009: When You're Strange,
the Doors documentary that features Johnny's narration, has gotten a UK distribution deal with The Works UK Distribution, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It is expected to be released there in 2010. The film
also has a French distributor, MK2. There is as of yet no US
distribution deal, but word is that possible deals are still brewing
for the US as well as Germany, Australia, Japan and other countries.
The film will next screen at the Mar del Plata in Argentina on November 11 and 13. According to the Hollywood
Reporter, the
film has received an R rating from the MPAA: "Rated for
some sexual content including references, nudity, drug material and
language." When You're Strange
had its first screenings with Johnny's permanent narration on June 21
and June 24, 2009 at the
LA
Film Festival.
Nicki
Finke of Deadline
Hollywood Daily
first broke the
news that Johnny would narrate the documentary,
and the formal announcement was made on Feb. 7 at the Berlin Film
Festival. There is an official website
for the film,
which includes a trailer and some short interviews.
- October 2009: Rumor has it that Johnny attended three Bob Dylan shows at the Hollywood Palladium. Numerous twitters (tweets?) reported spotting him in the balcony; fans on the official Dylan website reported that Johnny was in attendance on October 14th, and the Examiner.com reported the same for both the 13th and the 15th. Johnny has been known to attend Dylan shows in the past,
and he has spoken about Dylan as a musical hero
of his.
- October 2009: According to the tabloid site, Contact Music, Ozzy
Osbourne has expressed interest in Johnny portraying him in a film
biopic. Ozzy just wrote an autobiography entitled I Am Ozzy, and
he further says, "To have a movie made of my book - maybe with Johnny Depp playing me - I'd like that."
I'm sure he would. This is not the first time Johnny has
been mentioned with regard to portraying Ozzy in a film; back in 2002,
Ozzy's wife Sharon told People magazine: [On the subject of Depp] "I have a dream of who it could be, but I don't know if he'll do it," she said. "He's a brilliant actor." Well, unless we hear otherwise, we can consider this just a Myth.
2009 releases:
- Glenn Tilbrook & The Fluffers:
Pandemonium Ensues (CD). Johnny
contributes spoken voice to the song Too Close To The Sun.
The CD is available in all record stores.
- Vanessa Paradis: Il y a (video). Johnny directed this video, which was released on Vanessa's web site on October 15.
2010 releases:
- When You're
Strange: A Film About The Doors. Johnny provides
narration; the film premiered with his narration on June 21, 2009 at the LA Film Festival. See the JD Rocks! Documentaries page
for news about film festivals occurring this fall.
Theatrical releases in the UK, France, and hopefully the US are
expected in 2010.
- Babybird: Unloveable (video):
Johnny directed this video, which was reportedly filmed on September 21-22, 2009, and
will be related to an upcoming UK tour in November and the release of the Ex-Maniac CD (see below).
See the JD Rocks! Videography page for more.
- Babybird: Ex-Maniac (CD). According to The Star (UK),
Johnny will play guitar on the CD's lead single, Unloveable, which is
set for release in the UK on February 15, 2010. See Play.com for the track listing and UK pre-order information.
Possible future releases:
- Patti Smith (upcoming CD). In a BBC1 radio interview on
June 30 with Edith
Bowman, Johnny divulged, "I
think I might play on Patti Smith's next record... just a bit, a song
or something." Johnny and Patti have a longstanding friendship; they were spotted together last spring on the Rum
Diary
set in Puerto Rico, and arriving in Nice, France, in August. Some believe she makes a cameo in Vanessa Paradis' new video, Il y a, which Johnny directed. Is it possible that
they're
working together on a record now? We will just have to
wait
and see.
- Rock And A Hard Place: Another Night At The Agora (documentary).
This documentary about the South Florida music scene, which
features Johnny in archive footage, recent concert footage, and
interviews, screened at a few Florida film festivals in 2008, but still
has yet to see a theatrical or DVD release, or even screenings in other
locations. Here is hoping that the film will move forward in 2010.
- Do It For Johnny (documentary).
This film about the quest of filmmakers to bring a script and
guitar to Johnny did the film festival circuit in 2007, and by 2008 had
secured some foreign distribution deals. The filmmakers had
spoken of the film becoming available in the US in early 2009, but so
far, to my knowledge, that has not happened. Perhaps we will hear
more next year.
JD Rocks! Site News:
- Please
visit the new JD Rocks! Johnny's
Guitars page
to see Johnny's many guitars! The page was created in July
and
updated in August and September. Please e-mail me at
madscntst@verizon.net if you can give any information about makes or
models of any of these guitars.
November '09 updates:
|
October '09 updates:
|
September '09 updates:
|
is
updated often, so please check back!
Three years ago, I published
my first few pages of Johnny Depp Rocks!
As a huge fan of Johnny Depp and also a longtime music
enthusiast
and collector, I had been investigating Johnny's musical background and
pursuits, but I grew frustrated when I saw so much false information on
the web and in print. I created this site as an attempt to
compile accurate information about Johnny's musical side: his
bands, live
performances, recordings, and videos, as well as his friends in the
world of music, and share it freely with all his fans. While
the
design may be plain, I hope that the information presented here is as
accurate and reliable as it can possibly be. Many thanks to
all
those who have offered feedback or contributed information to help this
site to thrive. I always welcome any corrections, additions, or
suggestions, and hope that this site will continue to grow whenever
there may be more to add! Hope you enjoy!
-Cathy aka MadScntst, July 23,
2009
I
am always grateful for corrections or additions to any of the content
on this site! I would particularly love any photos or other
memorabilia from any of Johnny's live performances, past or present.
Please contact me if you can help!
madscntst@verizon.net
was
Created
July
23, 2006
