Despite his personal woes, Johnny Depp is eager to get back out on the road when it’s safe enough to do so.
Johnny Depp is continuing to use his Hollywood Vampires songwriting as therapy amid his bitter legal battles linked to his split from ex-wife Amber Heard, according to his bandmate Alice Cooper.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star was most recently denied an appeal in his U.K. libel trial after objecting to editors at The Sun calling him a “wife-beater”, following prior allegations of domestic abuse made by Heard.
Depp has vehemently denied the claims and is also suing the Aquaman actress in a separate legal case in the U.S., accusing her of defamation for referring to herself as a victim of domestic abuse in a Washington Post article.
Cooper previously revealed Depp had channelled his “anger” over the messy situation into his work with the Hollywood Vampires, with songs from the rock supergroup’s 2019 album, Rise, filled with his “venom”, and their next release appears to be heading in a similar creative direction.
Cooper told The Daily Beast: “I know Johnny was writing all last year when that whole thing (libel trial) was going on with him.
“But you know, that’s not going to stop him from going home and writing. In fact, it probably helped. I’m expecting some pretty interesting songs.”
And despite his personal woes, Depp is eager to get back out on the road when it’s safe enough to do so: “There’s no drama (with his work in the band),” Cooper insisted.
“(Depp) said, ‘Hey, that’s another world. That has nothing to do with what I’m doing in the band.’ He’s like, ‘I can’t wait to get back onstage.’ He’s one of my best buddies.”
Cooper also cannot wait to reunite in concert with Depp and bandmate Joe Perry, after recently having to cancel their summer European tour due to COVID-19 concerns: “It’ll be great when we all get together,” he smiled.
“You know, the crazy thing about that band is you’ve got eight guys in the band, and you’ve got three alpha males leading it, but there’s never been one argument. Nobody’s ever even raised their voice to anybody in that band. It’s really cool.”
