Johnny Depp finally took the plunge. The actor, who has been known to play guitar with some of rock's biggest names, has joined Alice Cooper and Joe Perry of Aerosmith to form The Hollywood Vampires. Even more impressive, the supergroup already has a gig scheduled. The trio will play at the Rock in Rio festival in Las Vegas in May. Queens of the Stone Age, Faith No More and System of a Down are also scheduled to play the event.
Cooper used the Hollywood Vampires name in the 1970s to describe a group of rock stars -- John Lennon, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson -- who liked to drink together at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Los Angeles, Rolling Stone noted. The shock rocker has shared the stage with Depp on plenty of occasions, and the actor also worked on Perry's recent holiday EP.
"We see each other a lot," Cooper said about Depp. "He's become a close friend and collaborator. We've done a lot of recording together recently. He is really a very talented and cool guy. Johnny is a guy who doesn't have to do anything; he does things because he wants to do them. It's not about his ego."
In 2014, Depp was spotted onstage with Marilyn Manson and Ryan Adams. He also contributed some guitar work to Lost on the River, an album created by Marcus Mumford, Elvis Costello and Jim James, among others.
"What I really love about Johnny is that when he does music, it is for fun and because he loves music. He was a musician first, so I think it is really close to his heart," Cooper added.