2000s
Johnny Depp
Embedded Files
Chocolat - 2000
Chocolat is one of the Johnny Depp films to make it onto our musical homepage. Why? Not because he has to show off his dancing talent, but because he can show off his guitar skills. For this he uses a dobro guitar (i.e. a resonator guitar). The special thing about these guitars is that they are equipped with resonators that produce a special sound.
In the film, he plays the charismatic Roux and wins the heart of Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) with the song "Minor Swing" (which also appears in the film "Arizona Dream" 1993) by Django Reinhardt and "Caravan", among others.
(Nicole - Nov 2023)
Edit by Nicole
Sands (Theme) - Tontos Giant Nuts - 2003
Johnny composed the instrumental song "Sands" from Once Upon A Time In Mexico as a part of his and Bruce Witkin's music project "Tonto's Giant Nuts". Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2003) is a western movie by Robert Rodriguez, which he starred in along with Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. The main characters were supposed to give Rodriguez some notes of a melody for their characters, which would later appear in the soundtrack. Instead, Johnny presented the director an entire track.
Photo: Columbia Pictures, Maestro Marcio Rodrigues
Rogues Gallery Pirates Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys - 2005
During the production of "Pirates Of The Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest", director Gore Verbinski and Johnny came up with the idea of having old sea shanties reinterpreted by their favorite musicians. So they got on the phone and stars such as Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Sean Lennon, Bono, Sting and many more spontaneously delivered. Hal Wilner produced the album; the release was on August 22, 2006.
A follow-up to the album was released in 2013, with the title "Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys".
The New York Times called it "a strong album with heart as well as ideas" and Entertainment Weekly hailing it as "a revelatory folk-song collection with the sea in the leading role".
(Susanne/Jill - March 2024)
God's gonna cut you down - Johnny Cash - 2006
In the music video for Johnny Cash's song "God's Gonna Cut You Down" from 2006, Johnny Depp appears for a few seconds. He and many other stars like Bono, Kate Moss, Iggy Pop, Flea, Dennis Hopper, Whoopi Goldberg, Sheryl Crow... pay tribute to Johnny Cash in this video.
(Susanne - Feb 2024)
Patty Smith - 2007
Johnny first met Patty Smith around 2007 when he and Vanessa visited her backstage at a concert. Patty was mourning the loss of her brother Todd at the time and was glad to have met Johnny: "I lost my brother and really mourned him and it felt like he sent Johnny Depp to be my new brother." Johnny and Patty share an absolute passion for French literature and for Jack Kerouac and Dylan Thomas.
For Johnny's birthday, Patty Smith wrote the song "Nine" as a gift, reflecting the gap he had fatefully filled after her brother's sad death. One of the most touching gifts ever, she said: "I think at heart he's a musician. I've never really seen him without a guitar. He keeps two or three guitars with him most of the time. Sometimes on a long drive, he´ll have one in the car. That's how devoted to music he is"
"Nine" can be heard on the album "Banga", to which Johnny contributed some guitar parts and which was released in 2012. The album focuses on unique dreams and observations and a wide range of human experiences.
(Nicole - Nov 2023)
Edit by Nicole
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - 2007
In 2007, Johnny worked with Tim Burton again. This time in a film based on a Broadway musical. Which in turn was based on a Dime Novel from the 19th century.
It was the first time Johnny sang on the big screen. All of the actors (Alan Rickman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Helena Bonham Carter and many more) had to audition first to make sure they were vocally up to the many different pieces of music within the film.
Johnny, however, was only asked by director Tim Burton if he would be confident enough to take on the lead role vocally. He agreed. No one in the entire production had ever heard Johnny sing, but they trusted him because of his musical past in his youth. In an interview with Paul Fischer in London he says:
"I think I was probably more frightened than anyone, except maybe Tim. He (Burton) was amazingly, he really trusted me with it and I was very lucky that he allowed me to...I didn't have a process really in terms of singing. I'd never sung before in my life so I had to find my way to it and thought it was important that I keep it very low key and so initially I did these demos in my friend's garage studios because I didn't know if I'd be able to hit a note to be honest, I really didn't. I wanted to make sure I could do it for Tim. So the first demo I cut was my friends (song in the film) and I sent it to Tim and crossed my fingers and waited for the outcome."
One evening Bruce Witkin, the film's vocal producer, and Johnny sat down. Neither of them could supposedly really read music, but with the help of a friend, a bottle of wine and some cigarettes - they just decided to get started.
Thus, "My Friends", became the first piece of music Johnny ever sang. From the first take, everyone knew they had a great actor with a unique voice in Johnny. The success of the film proved them right.
(Silke/Jill - Okt. 2023/Sep. 2025)
The Kids reunited - 2008
In 2008 Johnny Depp is back on stage with the musicians of his youth band The Kids (Bruce Witkin, Joey Malone and Beano Hanti) at the tribute concert for Sheila Witkin in front of 2,500 people. After a few other bands, The Kids perform around 0:30. According to the press, Johnny cut a relaxed figure and handled his guitar parts very well. Vanessa and Lily-Rose (9 years young at the time) were also in the audience at the time, which of course made Johnny especially happy and made him smile from the stage towards his family.
The Kids and the other participating bands raised money for the Sheila Witkin Foundation and the Dan Marino Foundation.
Sheila Witkin, Bruce Witkin's mother, was a musician and a dedicated supporter of small bands. As manager of the fledgling band The Kid, she helped land early opening gigs for Iggy Pop, Talking Heads, Pretenders and Ramones. After she died in 2006, the Foundation named after her was established.
Photo by Mike Franklin/Getty Images
Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images
Unloveable - Babybird - 2009
A song by the British band Babybird around Stephen Jones from the album "Ex-Maniac" from 2010. Johnny Depp directed this video and also played guitar.
The video was based on the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce from 1890, in which the hero Peyton Farquhar is hanged on a bridge after falling for an enemy scout. He escapes and returns to his family. Unfortunately, only an illusion. He has only dreamed his escape. The original "uncut" version was not shown on TV due to the graphic hanging at the end.
(Susanne - 2023)
When you´re strange - The Doors - 2009
Tom DiCillo's documentary about The Doors was released in cinemas in 2009. Johnny narrates the film. The film, which was honored with a Grammy in 2011, features many previously unreleased recordings and contemporary concert excerpts. Johnny also read 14 Jim Morrison poems for the soundtrack to the documentary.
"Watching the hypnotic, hitherto unreleased footage of Jim, John, Ray and Robby, I felt like I experienced it all through their eyes. As a rock 'n' roll documentary, or any kind of documentary for that matter, it simply doesn't get any better than this. What an honour to have been involved. I am as proud of this as anything I have ever done."
~ Johnny Depp
(Nicole - 2023)
Banner photo: Mark Seliger (middle), Kevin Winter (right), Dan MacMedan (left)
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