Hollywood Vampires, Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, And Joe Perry At The Grammy Awards? FAQ
The Hollywood Vampires surprised many of their fans at the Grammy Awards. Even those familiar with Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, and Joe Perry had to wonder, what are these guys doing together, if they had not previously heard. Many assumed it was just a group put together to memorialize Lemmy Kilmister. Hollywood Vampires have not had a lot of publicity until now, so here is a little Q and A that might help explain just what is going on with Depp, Cooper, and Perry.
Q. Are the Hollywood Vampires a real band? If so, how long have they been together?
A. Yes, Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, and Joe Perry are a real band called Hollywood Vampires, not just random people thrown together by the Grammy Awards for one performance. According to Wikipedia, they are a super group. and they have been together since February of 2015, so about a year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Qk-nIVytU
Q. Is Johnny Depp a musician? Was he actually playing that guitar at the Grammy Awards? It sounded amazing!
A. Yes, Johnny Depp is an adept guitar player, who started out as a musician, and only later became an actor. Surprisingly, as Rolling Stone explains, his acting career took off, while he never really got any breaks in music. He’s only been an actual rock star since last February.
Q. Who are the band members of Hollywood Vampires? Who were all those guys at the Grammy Awards?
A. Alice Cooper is the lead singer. Johnny Depp is the secondary guitarist and backup singer. Joe Perry is the lead guitarist. They are the original members of Hollywood Vampires. Hollywood vampires also has four touring musicians. Tommy Henriksen is a guitarist and backing vocalist. Duff McKagan plays bass and also sings backup. Matt Sorum is the drummer and also sings. Bruce Witkin plays keyboard, guitar and sings backup vocals.
Q. How did the Hollywood Vampires meet each other?
A. Both Johnny Depp and Alice Cooper were in the Dark Shadows movie. Johnny and Alice have been hanging out together and playing guitars ever since. Joe Perry heard about it and wanted to join.
A. Alice Cooper was part of another group of friends who referred to themselves as the Hollywood Vampires, back in the 70s. Most of them are dead now, since it has been so long and most of them partied rather hard. Hollywood Vampires are devoted to memorializing musicians who died in alcohol and drug related ways. Although they do write original music, they also perform cover tunes written by artists who have died as a tribute.
Q. So what is the band’s sense of purpose or agenda?
A. All members of Hollywood have had near death experiences. All of them have had substance abuse problems in the past, including alcoholism. All of them have lost friends or family members due to alcohol or other substances.
Q. Does Hollywood Vampires have a website? Do they have albums?
A. Yes, The Hollywood Vampires has an official website, and it is interesting. Their Deluxe Album was released February 12. It is available now, and may be ordered from their website, on iTunes, streamed on Spotify, or purchased on Amazon, with your choice of CD or classic Vinyl. Oh, and all the band members also have matching band member rings made of gold, but you can’t have one of those — unless you can convince them to let you join the band.
Hollywood Vampires, with Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, and Joe Perry, performed a tribute performance for Lemmy Kilmister at the 2016 Grammy Awards.
[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
