Johnny Depp Rocks!

The comprehensive site regarding Johnny Depp and his music!

5 Years Ago:

Johnny with The Kids at Club Cinema in Pompano Beach
January 28, 2007

Breaking News:

February 18, 2012: On a radio interview on Thursday with Ryan Seacrest, Steven Tyler mentions hanging out with Johnny and bringing Johnny to visit his studio. Johnny also gave Steven a gift of a Cigfiddle (cigar box guitar). Both Johnny and Steven have mentioned collaborating on a music project so we'll see if it ever comes to pass.

February 13, 2012: Congrats to Christopher Young and The Rum Diary Soundtrack for its nomination from the International Film Music Critics Association! It was nominated for Best Original Score for a Comedy. The sountracks to Hugo (Johnny co-produced the film) and Rango also got nominations. The awards will be presented Feb. 23. See the full list of nominees here.

February 3, 2012 (Updated February 13): The Lakeshore Records and Rum Diary Soundtrack Facebook pages report that another "Part 2" soundtrack, More Music From The Rum Diary, will be released later this month. The track list has now been announced (click either of the above 2 links). The new soundtrack will include music from Christopher Young, Frankie Miller, Dick Dale, The Tornados, and more. Patti Smith is once again listed for The Mermaid Song- no word yet on whether this is the same a cappella version as on the original soundtrack or another arrangement. Since Johnny was a producer on the original soundtrack, he may also be a producer on this one, but that remains to be confirmed. This is a welcome surprise! The album will be available from iTunes on March 3, and in disc form on March 27.

Recent News:

February 2012: A shop called Drum Doctors has posted a few photos of Johnny playing drums and posing with the shop's owner, Ross Garfield. The photos are dated from February 27, 2011. Johnny isn't really known as a drummer, but he did play drums on two tracks on the Lulu Gainsbourg album, From Gainsbourg To Lulu. Could it be that Johnny visited Drum Doctors to prepare for this performance? Thanks to Sandra, the Russian Burton/Depp fan site, and a Depp Fan Facebook page for the heads-up!

January 2012: Five years ago January 28, The First Sheila Witkin Memorial Reunion Concert took place in Pompano Beach, Florida. Johnny and The Kids headlined the show, in memory of Bruce Witkin's mom. The Johnny Depp Rocks The Kids page has lots of information about the show, including links to articles, photos, and the scanned setlist. It's hard to believe five whole years have gone by, but it was a great night. There were two "Second Annual" shows in August of 2008, but we're still waiting in hopes of another one someday!

Site News - Jan-Feb 2012: In late January, the online file sharing site, Megaupload, was shut down by the US Department of Justice over accusations of piracy and copyright infringement. See this LA Times article. Johnny Depp Rocks featured links to a number of Megaupload file downloads, especially on the Live On Stage and Videography pages. (No copyright infringement was intended). Sure enough, these links no longer worked, and instead brought up a stern-looking anti-piracy warning image, so they have therefore been removed. Fortunately, many of the clips are still available on YouTube.

January 2012: The official trailer for West Of Memphis, the upcoming Peter Jackson-directed documentary about the West Memphis Three, has been released. The trailer shows some footage of Johnny performing at the Voices For Justice concert in support of the WM3 on August 28, 2010. Matt McCormack Management reported Johnny's involvement, and also revealed that Bill and Ruth Carter will be prominently featured in the film, including their song Anything Made Of Paper, which was written specifically for the WM3. The song is now available for MP3 purchase for $.99. Please visit Bill and Ruth's official site and click on the Music tab to find the song. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2012. Visit the film's official site.

December 2011: December 20 was the release day for the CD version of the Rum Diary Soundtrack. Johnny contributes to the soundtrack as a musician, songwriter and producer. Check out the corresponding Johnny Depp Rocks! discography pages for updates and scans of the CD and liner notes. The soundtrack is also available for digital download from iTunes.

November 2011: A fantastic photo has surfaced of Johnny's old band Bitch, circa '79-'80. Please check it out on the Band Poses and Candids Photo Gallery!

November 2011: Unison Music Group has posted a video taken by Stephen Jones (Babybird) during the time he was recording his 2010 album, Ex-Maniac. It offers a rare behind-the scenes look at the recording studio and Stephen's visit to L.A. Johnny is featured laying down his guitar part for the track, Unloveable. Check it out here! Thanks to the Bad Pages for the heads-up!

Recent Live performances:

June 26, 2011: 100 Club, London England with Alice Cooper
October 22, 2011: Continental Club, Austin TX with Bill Carter and the Blame, featuring Billy Gibbons
October 25, 2011: Hiro Ballroom, NYC with Keith Richards and the JD Band

Recent and upcoming releases:

(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. The set received a Grammy nomination for Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package.
(2011) The Rum Diary Soundtrack. Johnny contributes as a musician, composer and producer.
(2011) Babybird: The Pleasures of Self Destruction (CD). Johnny performs on the album's first track, The Jesus Stag Night Club.
(2011) Lulu Gainsbourg: From Gainsbourg to Lulu (Serge Gainsbourg tribute CD). Johnny guests with Vanessa Paradis on Ballade de Melody Nelson and with Shane MacGowan on Sous Le Soleil Exactement.
(2012) West Of Memphis (Documentary). Matt McCormack Management announced that this upcoming Peter Jackson documentary about the West Memphis Three will feature Johnny. The official trailer shows some clips of Johnny performing at the Voices for Justice concert on the WM3's behalf in August of 2010. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20.
(2012?) Sunset Strip (Documentary). Johnny participates in this documentary about the famed section of West Hollywood, which includes The Viper Room, formerly owned by Johnny. The documentary is listed by IMDb as being in post-production. Visit the official site.
(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. 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:

(2012) More Music From The Rum Diary (Soundtrack; Johnny's participation tentative). Johnny may be a producer. The soundtrack will be released on March 3, 2012 via iTunes and on March 27 on CD.
(2012) 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. Patti mentioned in an interview at the Venice Film Festival that she would release a new album in Spring of 2012.
(????) Steven Tyler collaboration. In April 2011, 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..." 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 and listen to a 2012 radio interview of Steven with Ryan Seacrest. Time will tell!
(????) Do It For Johnny Depp (documentary). Read about this documentary on the Johnny Depp Rocks documentaries page.
(????) Rock And A Hard Place: Another Night At The Agora (documentary). Read more about this documentary on the Johnny Depp Rocks documentaries page.

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AS OF AUGUST 12, 2011, ALL SUBSECTIONS OF JOHNNY DEPP ROCKS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO THIS NEW DOMAIN, johnnydepprocks.com. UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS!
The old Verizon URLs are still online for now but are no longer being updated. They will eventually be deleted.

February '12 updates:

updated Videography, Live On Stage, The Kids, and Fun Stuff pages to remove megaupload links and replaced with YouTube links where possible
additions to Etc photo gallery
additions/updates to Myths
updates to Author, Musician, Spoken and Producer discographies
update to Johnny's Guitars 2

January '12 updates:

additions to Fun Stuff
updates to Documentaries section
additions to Bill Carter/Ruth Ellsworth page

December '11 updates:

additions to Credits
additions to Johnny's Guitars 1
update to Videography
update to Before The Kids and Rock City Angels
addition to South FL Musicians in related musicians
additions to Bruce Witkin page

is updated often, so please check back!

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