The joy of falling in love with
a musical instrument is that it will never go away and you won't stop
playing.
-Johnny
Depp
Breaking News:
- July 1, 2009: Johnny
sings! Once again, Johnny can be heard singing briefly on the
silver screen, this time in the motion picture, Public Enemies,
which opens in theaters today. It occurs during a car scene, and
consists of a full refrain of the song The Last Roundup, sung a cappella. While Sweeney Todd marked Johnny's first major singing role on film, he has has sung before, albeit briefly or jokingly, in films including Arizona Dream, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Secret Window, and all three Pirates films, as well as on the TV series 21 Jump Street. YouTube link (audio only).
- June 30, 2009: In a BBC1 radio interview today with Edith Bowman, Johnny divulged, "I think I might play on Patti Smith's next record... just a bit, a song or something."
He was discussing how he still continues to play guitar
"nonstop," "as much as possible," so he was giving this as an example.
He did not have time to elaborate further than that. A quick look
on a few of Patti's websites does not indicate any plans for a future
album at the moment, so we will just have to wait and see for more
information. Johnny and Patti have a longstanding friendship, and
Johnny has spoken in interviews about how he has painted her portrait
several times. She was also spotted with Johnny in Puerto Rico
this spring on the Rum Diary set. Very exciting news, and I hope that it will come to pass!
- June 26, 2009: The Doors documentary, 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.
Writer/Director Tom DiCillo blogged
about the screenings today, telling about the favorable responses he's
heard, including one from Jac Holzman, the founder of Elektra records
and the man who signed The Doors. I haven't yet seen any formal reviews myself, but informal remarks from
blogs and message boards seem very positive. The webmistress of
the LA Woman Confidential
site, who saw the film with both Tom DiCillo's original and Johnny's
permanent narration, said "The new and improved narration is leaner
(less talking over the footage) and Depp's nuanced inflections hit the
right marks!" There will be a buyer's screening in NYC on June 30th; I'm
presuming that this will not be a public screening, but I am hoping
that it will generate lots of interest among potential buyers!
DiCillo and editor Frank Lisciandro have located the original 35mm
negative for Jim Morrison's experimental film, HWY, which was cut into the film in time for the screening. The footage is said to be so good that some may assume they are
re-enactments. But be assured that this footage is of Morrison
himself. Of Johnny's contribution, DiCillo says, "He
had been my first choice. My sense was always that the film needed a
real actor to perform the narration, someone who could genuinely relate
to the Doors and tell the story as if it really meant something to him.
He has succeeded."
Previously
reported: DiCillo confirmed on May 20 that Johnny had completed
his
narration for the film, and that the recording is
"fantastic."
DiCillo has been on record as
saying that feels that
Johnny will bring something "crucial" to the
film. He has many
complimentary things to say about Johnny's talent as an actor, and his
emotional connection to Jim Morrison and The Doors. Read his various Blog posts
and comments for more. Nicki
Finke of Deadline
Hollywood Daily
first broke the news that Johnny will narrate the documentary,
and the formal announcement was made on Feb. 7 at the Berlin Film Festival. The
film had premiered in January at the Sundance Film
Festival, and the screenings there and in Berlin featured a temporary
narration by DiCillo; this
narration has been somewhat criticized by reviewers.
DiCillo did not wish to screen the film again without Johnny's
permanent narration; he therefore elected to pull the film from the
SXSW Film Festival, when it became clear that Johnny's
narration would not be ready in time. There is an official website
for the film, which includes a trailer and some short interviews;
hopefully, information about future screenings will soon be put there,
as well.
Recent News:
- July 2009 Sweeney Todd updates: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street will have a number of television airings in July and August on Thriller Max, Cinemax and other networks- please check out the Sweeney Todd TV Schedule! The film is already available on DVD and Blu-ray. Check out the Johnny Depp Rocks! Sweeney Todd page, Reviews & Articles, and Photo Galleries for all kinds of goodies about the film!
- June 2009: The July 2009 issue of Vanity Fair features Johnny posing with a guitar for
photographer and good friend François-Marie Banier. See here, and click
forward and back to view the rest of the slideshow. The issue is
now on newsstands. The interview features a number of
great musical tidbits; it's well worth a look!
- June 2009 Crazy Rumor Department: A rumor was posted to IMDb (supposedly originating from WENN, though I don't see the "story" over there), and picked up by Contact Music,
that Johnny gave a surprise performance playing guitar at a tiny cafe
in Glastonbury on June 26. This "report" was suspect right off
the bat, since WENN and Contact Music are both known for fabricating stories out of thin air. There
was no confirmation from any more legitimate sources, including MTV,
though an MTV reporter was alleged to have been present for this
gig. At any rate, Johnny, who was in NYC on June 25 for
Letterman, was spotted again at a restaurant in NYC on June 27.
So, we can bury this one, though it still would be cool to hear
of Johnny playing a gig somewhere, sometime!
- June 2009 Related Artists
news: This
is a three-fer. Johnny's former P bandmate, Gibby Haynes,
produced an album by The Lemonheads, for whom Johnny once appeared
in a video (It's A Shame About Ray). The album, entitled
Varshons, was released on June 23 in the US, and consists of an
eclectic group of cover songs. Johnny's ex, Kate Moss,
contributes vocals on one song. Read the details on this
release
at Barnes
& Noble and Amazon.
- April 2009: April 7 was
the US release date for Glenn Tilbrook & The Fluffers' new album,
Pandemonium Ensues. The album was released in the UK on March 2.
As Glenn announced back in October on thisisnottingham.co.uk,
both Johnny and Vanessa Paradis are featured on the album: Johnny
contributes spoken voice to the song Too Close To The Sun, while Vanessa
duets with Glenn on Interest & Love. Johnny and Vanessa met
Tilbrook while he was touring in LA. See a YouTube ITN interview with Glenn and read another interview on Ultimateguitar.com, and read some reviews of the album on Glenn's Official website.
Tilbrook is most famous for being a member of the band Squeeze,
which has been together off and on since the 70's. Check out
his Wikipedia page for more!
July '09 updates:
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June '09 updates:
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May '09 updates:
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is
updated often, so please check back!
Two years ago, when I published
my first few pages of Johnny Depp Rocks!, I knew nothing about
building websites, and now... well, I still don't know much more!
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,
2008
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
