Amber Heard is at the center of new gossip about an impending divorce from husband Johnny Depp. As fact and rumor intertwine to create the smoke and mirrors media hacks thrive on, there is a scramble among those who would rather keep the facts straight.
Sixty-seven-year-old rock star legend Alice Cooper who toured with Depp and their band Hollywood Vampires in both Los Angeles, California, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September, insists Amber Heard, 29, and Johnny Depp, 52, are “happy” together. At the T.J. Martell Foundation 40th Anniversary Honors Gala on October 15, 2015, Cooper shared this opinion with People magazine.
“They were very, very much in love. They’re doing great.”
Cooper went on to relate how Amber Heard and Johnny Depp gave hearing aids to more than 250 aurally challenged Brazilians during the Rio tour. According to People , it was an emotionally charged joint experience for the couple with Heard shedding tears as she watched the recipients hear for the first time.
Amber Heard herself has been vocal about her feelings toward Johnny Depp whom she married on February 8, 2015. To counter divorce rumors, she told ABC News what she thought of it all.
“I don’t care. I’m a happily married woman.”
The age gap between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp is blamed for his taking up with the rock band in a bid to become “hip.” That Amber Heard would lose interest in Johnny Depp on account of their age difference is being bandied about as the source of his insecurity. What has backfired on him is the fact that Amber Heard is reportedly not thrilled with Johnny Depp spending time with the Hollywood Vampires.
Rumor mills purport that Amber Heard finds the band members boring and their music unappealing. As Johnny Depp’s pet project, being a rocker seems to have edged out other activities the couple normally share. When he invites the band over for jamming in between gigs, Amber Heard is relegated to sit and watch in a corner, which she finds unbearable.
But Johnny Depp is no stranger to music. A Kentucky native, he received a guitar as a gift from his mother when he was 12 and spent his time playing with garage bands. So caught up was he with his dream of being a musician that he dropped out of high school to join The Kids, a local band, that renamed itself “Six Gun Method” while pursuing a record deal in Los Angeles. When Six Gun Method split up, he co-wrote a song “Mary” with Rock City Angels, and it was included in the band’s debut album.
According to Cooper in the documentary Prime Cuts , he formed the Hollywood Vampires as a celebrity drinking club in the seventies, and the group met at the loft of the Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood. He got the likes of Micky Dolenz, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and Harry Nilsson to participate. Sometimes Keith Emerson or even John Lennon would drop in as honorary members.
Following a hiatus, Cooper formed a group in 2015, named after the original, with Johnny Depp and Joe Perry. Their debut album, Hollywood Vampires , was released on September 11 with Amber Heard behind the scenes as a spectator.
According to Entertainment , the group’s first live performances took place on September 16 and 17 at Roxy on the Sunset Strip, where the original “ Hollywood vampires ” used to drink and jam. The group performed at the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil on Sept. 24.
Meanwhile, Amber Heard has had to struggle with her own demons. According to ABC News , Amber dated artist and photographer Tasya van Ree and came out as a bisexual in 2010 during a G.L.A.A.D. (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) celebration. Heard was open about her sexual orientation in the years before she met and fell in love with Johnny Depp.
The conundrum left to their followers is if Johnny Depp overlooked the skeleton in her closet, would Amber Heard allow his rock-and-roll clutter into their lives?
[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]