'18': After defamation suit win, Johnny Depp releases new album

The album cover shows a pencil illustration of two teenagers, garbed in white T-shirts, with pomade in their hair and guitars and microphones in their hands. It bears the title 18. 

As guitar legend Jeff Beck explains, it was chosen because "when Johnny and I started playing together, it ignited a youthful spirit and creativity in us — so much so that we kept joking about feeling 18 again." Beck and Depp are said to have met in 2016, according to the Warner Music website.

Not only did they share a passion for cars and guitars, but they always made each other laugh. This friendship led to the project of recording an album together, which they started working on in 2019.

The result released on July 15: 18 is the first joint album by multiple Grammy award winner Beck and Hollywood star Depp. It features 13 tracks, most of which are covers of Motown soul songs as well as titles by the Beach Boys, The Velvet Underground or English rock band, Killing Joke. There is also the soulful ballad, This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr, an homage to the Austrian-American actor Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000), which Depp composed.

The actor, who is best known from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and most recently for his defamation trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, is no music novice. Twelve years ago he founded Hollywood Vampires with rock singer Alice Cooper and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, with whom he has since recorded two albums.

Depp's infamous trial victory over his ex-wife is boosting public interest in his musical ventures, which would otherwise have been dismissed as just "two more ageing stars on tour." The high-profile trial, which was broadcast live on the internet, was closely followed by fans around the world, who widely commented on the case through social media.

Both actors had to pay fines in the end — but Heard's was heftier than Depp's. The jury ruled that Heard had defamed her ex-husband through an article she had written for the Washington Post, in which she indirectly accused him of domestic violence; she was ordered to pay $10 million (€9.96 million) in damages, whereas Depp, who was also found liable because of statements made by his lawyer, has to pay Heard $2 million.

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