Alice Cooper has revealed that Aerosmith's Joe Perry was so impressed by the guitar playing abilities of Johnny Depp that he asked him for lessons. The revelation comes as Perry, who plays alongside Depp and Cooper in super group Hollywood Vampires prepares to descend on Europe, with a fistful of dates across the continent. The short tour comes ahead of Cooper's only U.K. appearance of 2016, at the Stone Free Festival in London.
Photo: Hollywoodvampires.com.
By Eamon O'Neill on 23rd May 2016.
EXCLUSIVE: Alice Cooper has revealed that Aerosmith's Joe Perry was so impressed by the guitar playing abilities of Johnny Depp that he asked him for lessons. The revelation comes as Perry, who plays alongside Depp and Cooper in super group Hollywood Vampires preparing to descend on Europe, with a fistful of dates across the continent during the end of May and beginning of June. The short tour comes ahead of Cooper's only U.K. appearance of 2016, at the Stone Free Festival in London.
The Hollywood Vampires, formed by Alice Cooper and named in in homage to the original grouping - an exclusive after hours drinking club that gathered at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Los Angeles in the 1970s, kick off their spate on 27th May, with an appearance at Rock In Rio Lisbon, Portugal. The band then move on to stops in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Romania.
For the dates, which can be viewed in full below, the act expect to add touring members Matt Sorum and Duff McKaggan of Guns 'N' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame, along with guitarist Tommy Henriksen and bass player Bruce Witkin. While it is unclear exactly who will be in the bohemian act by the time they hit the stage in Europe, other names such as Robert De Leo of Stone Temple Pilots may also make an appearance.
Speaking exclusively to eonmusic, Alice Cooper said of the original Hollywood Vampires: "We met every single night at the Rainbow. I mean, I knew Harry Nilsson was going to be there, I knew if Keith Moon was in town, he was going to be there, I knew Bernie Taupin would be there, I knew Micky Dolenz would be there. That was the clubhouse; I remember Bruce Springsteen being there when he was a kid!"
When asked who the biggest hellraiser of the notable group was, the shock rocker didn't hesitate: Said Cooper: "Nobody touches Keith Moon. We were all amateurs when it comes to being hellraisers; what he would do in one day, is what we would do in a year. He would do twelve things that day that we would write down as being the most memorable things ever - that was a Tuesday to him!"
Going on to talk about the band's classic rock 'n'roll ethos, the former Vincent Furnier was full of praise for the seemingly unlikely guitarist in actor Johnny Depp: "Johnny is one of these guys that just loves that era, and he's a killer guitar player", said Cooper, continuing: "There's a movie called 'Chocolat', and he plays this gypsy guitar player, and he does all this [famed jazz guitarist] Django Reinhardt stuff, and it's really him - it's not somebody playing for him, he's really playing that stuff".
Impressing even his decorated guitar playing partner in Hollywood Vampires, Cooper added: "Joe Perry heard that and he called him up and said; "can I get guitar lessons from you?!" So that's how good Johnny is".
Alice Cooper is due to play his only U.K. date of 2016 when he closes the Saturday night at the inaugural Stone Free Festival, which takes place at London’s O2 Arena on 18th and 19th June 2016. He'll be joined by Rick Wakeman, who headlines the Sunday night and will be performing the whole of his ‘Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table’ opus for the first time since 1975. Other acts set to perform during the weekend include The Darkness, Marillion and Steve Hackett.
Tickets for Stone Free Festival are available now. Click here for more details.
Hollywood Vampires Europe 2016 Dates:
27th May - Rock in Rio- Lisbon, Portugal
29th May - Hessentag Festival Herborn, Germany
30th May - Grona Lund Stockholm, Sweden
1st Jun - The Prison Horsens, Denmark
6th Jun - Romexpo Parc Bucarest, Romania
EXCLUSIVE: Alice Cooper has revealed that Aerosmith's Joe Perry was so impressed by the guitar playing abilities of Johnny Depp that he asked him for lessons. The revelation comes as Perry, who plays alongside Depp and Cooper in super group Hollywood Vampires preparing to descend on Europe, with a fistful of dates across the continent during the end of May and beginning of June. The short tour comes ahead of Cooper's only U.K. appearance of 2016, at the Stone Free Festival in London.
The Hollywood Vampires, formed by Alice Cooper and named in in homage to the original grouping - an exclusive after hours drinking club that gathered at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Los Angeles in the 1970s, kick off their spate on 27th May, with an appearance at Rock In Rio Lisbon, Portugal. The band then move on to stops in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Romania.
For the dates, which can be viewed in full below, the act expect to add touring members Matt Sorum and Duff McKaggan of Guns 'N' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame, along with guitarist Tommy Henriksen and bass player Bruce Witkin. While it is unclear exactly who will be in the bohemian act by the time they hit the stage in Europe, other names such as Robert De Leo of Stone Temple Pilots may also make an appearance.
Speaking exclusively to eonmusic, Alice Cooper said of the original Hollywood Vampires: "We met every single night at the Rainbow. I mean, I knew Harry Nilsson was going to be there, I knew if Keith Moon was in town, he was going to be there, I knew Bernie Taupin would be there, I knew Micky Dolenz would be there. That was the clubhouse; I remember Bruce Springsteen being there when he was a kid!"
When asked who the biggest hellraiser of the notable group was, the shock rocker didn't hesitate: Said Cooper: "Nobody touches Keith Moon. We were all amateurs when it comes to being hellraisers; what he would do in one day, is what we would do in a year. He would do twelve things that day that we would write down as being the most memorable things ever - that was a Tuesday to him!"
Going on to talk about the band's classic rock 'n'roll ethos, the former Vincent Furnier was full of praise for the seemingly unlikely guitarist in actor Johnny Depp: "Johnny is one of these guys that just loves that era, and he's a killer guitar player", said Cooper, continuing: "There's a movie called 'Chocolat', and he plays this gypsy guitar player, and he does all this [famed jazz guitarist] Django Reinhardt stuff, and it's really him - it's not somebody playing for him, he's really playing that stuff".
Impressing even his decorated guitar playing partner in Hollywood Vampires, Cooper added: "Joe Perry heard that and he called him up and said; "can I get guitar lessons from you?!" So that's how good Johnny is".
Alice Cooper is due to play his only U.K. date of 2016 when he closes the Saturday night at the inaugural Stone Free Festival, which takes place at London’s O2 Arena on 18th and 19th June 2016. He'll be joined by Rick Wakeman, who headlines the Sunday night and will be performing the whole of his ‘Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table’ opus for the first time since 1975. Other acts set to perform during the weekend include The Darkness, Marillion and Steve Hackett.
Tickets for Stone Free Festival are available now. Click here for more details.
Hollywood Vampires Europe 2016 Dates:
27th May - Rock in Rio- Lisbon, Portugal
29th May - Hessentag Festival Herborn, Germany
30th May - Grona Lund Stockholm, Sweden
1st Jun - The Prison Horsens, Denmark
6th Jun - Romexpo Parc Bucarest, Romania
