Johnny Depp Rocks!

The comprehensive site regarding Johnny Depp and his music!

Johnny with Bill Carter and Patti Smith, Little Rock AR, August 28, 2010
Voices for Justice concert in support of the West Memphis Three

"...I think I approach my work the same way I approached guitar playing- looking at a character like a song...
It's not necessarily a question of how many notes, but a question of what do the notes express and what does a slight bend do."
-Johnny Depp, Vanity Fair January 2011

Breaking News:

August 22, 2011: Johnny appears (in performance footage from his June 26, 2011 100 Club appearance) in Alice Cooper's new video, I'll Bite Your Face Off, which was just released today. Watch the video here, and in the UK, here. Johnny's participation was reported yesterday in The Mirror (UK). The song is Alice's first single from his upcoming album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, which will be released in September. Johnny joined Alice for I'm Eighteen and School's Out (but not I'll Bite Your Face Off) at the 100 Club show.

August 19, 2011: Earlier today, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, also known as the West Memphis Three, walked free after 18 years in prison. Johnny has long spoken out in support of the West Memphis Three, and performed last August at a Voices For Justice rally for their benefit. The three had been convicted of killing three 8 year old boys, in a trial that has long been criticized for its lack of true evidence, jury misconduct, and other allegations. Recently, DNA testing failed to link any of the three to the murder scene, and they were awaiting a hearing in December to consider the new evidence that may have proven their innocence. Instead, they entered a plea to maintain their innocence while acknowledging that the prosecution had a case that could potentially convict them, and were sentenced to time served and ten years' probation. Watch Johnny, Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines and others performing at the Voices for Justice concert here.

Recent News:

August 2011: There is a new interview with Lulu Gainsbourg, in which he discusses his upcoming album of covers of his father Serge Gainsbourg's songs. There is a brief mention of Johnny and Vanessa Paradis, who will both perform on the album, as well as other guests such as Scarlett Johansson and Shane MacGowan. The album will be entitled From Gainsbourg to Lulu and is expected in November. Read the Engish translation here.

July 2011: Tim Robbins and the Rogues Gallery Band have released a new self-titled album with Hal Willner producing. However, I can find no news regarding a rumored follow-up to the 2006 Depp co-produced album, Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys that Willner has spoken about in previous articles such as this one. Some reports had claimed that Johnny would perform on this follow-up which was to have featured a number of different musicians including Shane MacGowan and Keith Richards, and at least one article mentioned Tom Waits going into a recording studio for this project, which was to be released in 2010. More and more, it seems as if this follow-up album will never see the light of day, while Willner has instead put his efforts behind Robbins and others have moved on to other projects. I wish Robbins the best with his album and tour, but unless we hear otherwise, I will now remove the follow-up album from Johnny's possible future releases.

July-August 2011: Happy Fifth Anniversary to Johnny Depp Rocks! This website is celebrating with a couple of new additions to help make us more accessible. First, please bookmark our new home page: http://www.johnnydepprocks.com. The transition of the rest of the site's subpages over to this domain is now complete! Secondly, please Like the new Facebook page to keep up with updates and tidbits!

Recent and upcoming releases:

(2010) Babybird: Ex-Maniac (CD) and Unloveable (video): Johnny plays guitar in and directs the video for the single Unloveable. Purchase from Unison Music.
(2010) Shane MacGowan & Friends: I Put A Spell On You (single and video). Johnny plays guitar on this digital single to benefit the Concern charity for Haitian earthquake relief.
(2010) When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors. Johnny narrates the film and contributes readings to the soundtrack.
(2010) Life (Audiobook CD). Johnny provides a narration for the audiobook version of Rolling Stone Keith Richards' autobiography.
(2010) Vanessa Paradis: Une Nuit a Versailles (live CD/DVD set): Johnny co-wrote the music to two previously released songs, St. Germain and Bliss.
(2011) Rango (Soundtrack). Johnny contributes spoken word as his character, Rango.
(2011) The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box (Box Set). Johnny provides a foreword for the exclusive book to this box set.
(2011) Lulu Gainsbourg: From Gainsbourg to Lulu (upcoming Serge Gainsbourg tribute CD). A WWD.com article first indicated Johnny's participation, and more information about the release was given by purepeople.com and lesinrocks. Johnny will play guitar on The Ballad of Melody Nelson, with Vanessa Paradis and Lulu on vocals. Shane MacGowan, Iggy Pop, Rufus Wainwright and others will also particpate on the album, which is due out in November from Mercury France.
(2012?) Untitled Keith Richards documentary). Johnny announced plans to direct this documentary in a Serbian interview while attending the Kustendorf Film Festival on January 14, 2010, and it was later reported in Variety. Johnny, Keith, Patti Smith and others were on set in LA on January 30, 2010, and Johnny says that they shot for about 5 days. For what it's worth, IMDb now shows the title as being in "post-production". See a brief mention at myFOXdetroit and more details at EW Music Mix and Inquirer.net, and stay tuned.

Possible future releases:

(2011) Patti Smith (upcoming CD; Johnny's participation tentative). In a BBC1 radio interview on June 30, 2009 with Edith Bowman, Johnny divulged, "I think I might play on Patti Smith's next record... just a bit, a song or something." A September 8, 2010 Italian article mentions Johnny's involvement, though there has not yet been an official confirmation.
(????) Steven Tyler collaboration. In April, after presenting Johnny with a Best Actor Kids Choice Award, Aerosmith rocker/American Idol judge Steven Tyler tweeted: "JONNY [sic] DEPP LOOKED ABFAB... WERE GONNA HOOK UP & WRITE A SONG OR TWO..." Well, this may have been more than just an offhand comment, because both Steven and Johnny have mentioned the possibility of working together several more times. See an Extra video clip from the Pirates 4 premiere here. It will be fun to wait and see if anything ever comes of this...
(????) Do It For Johnny Depp (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. As of 2011, the film finally has a distributor, ICAP Media (formerly Moving Pictures), and there is a new trailer.
(????) 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.

Check out these areas!

AS OF AUGUST 12, 2011, ALL SUBSECTIONS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO THE NEW DOMAIN. OLD URLs WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR THE TIME BEING.

August '11 updates:

addition to Guest Sessions
additions and link fixes to Videography
update to Timeline

July '11 updates:

additions and updates to Credits
addition to Johnny's Guitars
addition to Fun Stuff
2 new Blog posts

June '11 updates:

updates to Before The Kids page
additions to Etc. and On Stage-Various photo galleries
addition to Live on Stage page
updates to Quotes

is updated often, so please check back!

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Five 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, 2011

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!

info@johnnydepprocks.com

Johnny Depp Rocks!

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Created July 23, 2006