Supergroup including Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper and Joe Perry
The Hollywood Vampires rise again. Decades after Alice Cooper presided over the Lair of the Hollywood Vampires, the rocker has revived the moniker for his new supergroup with actor Johnny Depp and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. According to Cooper’s Instagram, the new act has lined up a high-profile debut gig: A main stage slot at the Rock in Rio festival, where they’ll share the bill with System of a Down, Queens of the Stone Age and the reunited Faith No More.
The Hollywood Vampires, which takes its name from the infamous booze crew that Cooper formed with John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon and Ringo Starr at Los Angeles’ Rainbow Bar and Grill in the Seventies, will perform this September at the Brazilian fest. So far, that’s the lone date on the new supergroup’s schedule. The Rock in Rio site also notes that the supergroup has also recorded an album together.
Depp has performed onstage with Cooper multiple times since the pair first met on the set of Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows; Depp played a vampire in the film, Cooper played himself. Depp first played guitar alongside the shock rocker at Cooper’s 2012 gig at Los Angeles’ Orpheum. From there, the two formed a bond that eventually led to the recording studio, Cooper recently told Rolling Stone.
“We see each other a lot,” Cooper said. “He’s become a close friend and collaborator. We’ve done a lot of recording together recently. He is really a very talented and cool guy. Johnny is a guy who doesn’t have to do anything; he does things because he wants to do them. It’s not about his ego.”
In addition to rocking out with Cooper – as well as Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, Marilyn Manson, Paul McCartney and Butch Walker – Depp also contributed background vocals to Aerosmith’s Music From Another Dimension, which is where Hollywood Vampires’ Joe Perry connection comes in. No word yet what other musicians will round out the fledgling band.
“Johnny has this old school rock & roll feel in his playing. It is very choosy and thoughtful. He gets in and out and avoids overplaying, which a lot of players should learn from,” Cooper told Rolling Stone. “He’s also not a stage hog, which surprised me at first. He’s happy being up there and enjoying the music, but he never makes it about him. What I really love about Johnny is that when he does music, it is for fun and because he loves music. He was a musician first, so I think it is really close to his heart.”
Source: Rolling Stone
