In early 1993, Johnny Depp met Anthony Fox, who owned a nightclub called The Central in West Hollywood.  The club existed on the site of The Melody Room, formerly owned by gangster Bugsy Siegel in the 1940's.  Johnny and musician Chuck E. Weiss went into business with Fox, took 51% ownership in the club and reopened it as The Viper Room on August 14, 1993.  Johnny's best friend from childhood, Sal Jenco, became a manager.
     The opening night was a benefit for the Starlight Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to terminally ill children.  Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers were among the acts; according to their website The Last DJ, they played a 60 minute set that included the debut performance of Mary Jane's Last Dance, Crawling Back To You (reportedly the only performance of this song with Stan Lynch on drums), Drivin’ Down To Georgia, and Something In the Air.  Shane MacGowan's participation is mentioned in a blog comment by backup musician Cindy Collins Smith.  Other performers that night included Evan Dando, Maria McKee, and Weiss' band the G-ddamn Liars.  Attendees included Quentin Tarantino, Julien Temple, Mary Stuart Masterson, Crispen Glover, and Tim Burton.


     From a 1994 People magazine article, Johnny envisioned the club as a "cool little underground place" for him and his friends to hang out at and listen to good music, but for better or worse, it soon gained a much higher profile than this.

     Concrete Blonde had a record release party there in late 1993, leading frontwoman Johnette Napolitano to make a toast to an absent Johnny:  "Lift your glasses!  Is that man good-looking or am I crazy?"  (This may have lead to the rumor that Johnny appears in one of Concrete Blonde's videos, for the song Joey.  This has never been substantiated, and the common video for Joey does not feature Johnny).


     Tragically, River Phoenix died of a drug overdose outside the club in the early morning of October 31, 1993 (often misreported as Halloween night).  Johnny has said in interviews that he was playing on stage with his band P at the time, and had no idea what had happened until being notified of it later.  In a Spin Magazine article, Gibby Haynes recalls playing Michael Stipe that night:  "Haynes later told Spin about the night P played at Depp's Viper Room in Los Angeles. Starting 'Michael Stipe,' the singer looked for Phoenix, who was supposed to be in attendance: '[The song's] got River's name in it, so it was going to be cool. He's a friend of mine and he's never heard the song. So we're singing up on stage…and right at that moment, he was basically on the sidewalk…. I've got a guitar solo, and at the end of the solo, Johnny stepped offstage. He was frightened. River died [of a heroin overdose] just a few feet away from us, right on the other side of the wall.'"  Johnny closed the club for 2 weeks, placing a sign outside to express sympathy and condolences to River's family and loved ones.  Fans were permitted to place flowers, candles, photos and other memorabilia outside the club while it was closed.

 
     P was said to have played at the Viper Room on a number of occasions, sometimes with help from the likes of Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols.  They also reportedly threw Kate Moss a party there for her 21st birthday in January of 1995.


     Another famous Viper Room guest was Hunter S. Thompson, in September 1996.  Johnny and John Cusack joined Hunter on stage to discuss many things, including his fight against a DUI charge.  Some of this Viper Room appearance has been documented on the DVD, Breakfast With Hunter.

     The club was also the setting for a spring 1997 event paying tribute to the release of the Kerouac - Kicks Joy Darkness CD.  Michael Stipe was at least one of the performers.


     The Viper Room operated successfully for years, attracting many top music acts.  However, it was not immune to controversy.  In 2000, Anthony Fox sued Johnny for mishandling of profits, but while the suit was in progress, Fox disappeared in December of 2001 (he is still missing to this day).  Meanwhile, by this time, Johnny was spending most of his time in France with long time love Vanessa Paradis and their two children, and had become less and less involved with the club.  


     In 2004, Johnny and his lawyers finally settled the case, quietly selling his majority share to Fox's daughter Amanda, whose intent was to resell the club.  The club was then owned by Darin Feinstein, Bevan Cooney and Blackhawk Capital Partners, Inc.
     On February 15, 2008, it was announced that the club has been sold to Harry Morton, son of Hard Rock Cafe owner Peter Morton.  Blackhawk will retain a minority share.  Morton plans to open additional Viper Room clubs in such cities as Las Vegas, Miami, Portland, Seattle, New York, London and Tokyo.  As for the original club, he plans "only minor cosmetic changes, and would not compromise its identity or culture."  Read the article about the sale here.  And here is an article from the November 30, 2008 issue of the Washington Post.
     The Viper Room is still open and thriving.  The official Viper Room Website which once mentioned Johnny's involvement in the club, no longer mentions him by name anywhere on the site.  One can only guess that this is by mutual agreement.  Nevertheless, Johnny is still seen sporting a Viper Room knit cap on occasion.