<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/2022/06/13/why-music-will-always-be-johnny-depps-first-love/" target="_blank">Johnny Depp</a> is taking his band <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/2022/04/15/do-supergroups-work-from-cream-to-superheavy-some-of-the-best-and-worst/">Hollywood Vampires</a> back on the road. The supergroup, featuring Alice Cooper, will embark on a European tour in the summer of 2023. The band announced the first batch of shows to take place in Germany and Luxembourg from June 20 to 30, with tickets going on sale on Monday. The tour marks the Hollywood Vampires return to the stage after three years, with their last performance coming as part of a 2019 US tour supporting their second album <i>Rise</i>. While there is no new music on the horizon, the band have become popular since their inception in 2015, having toured the US, Europe and Australia, in addition to<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/travel/destinations/2022/05/12/from-albania-to-morocco-10-music-festivals-worth-making-a-song-and-dance-about/" target="_blank"> headlining festivals </a>such as Rock in Rio Lisboa, Portugal, in 2016. The group are a hodgepodge of rock influences with Depp and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry on guitars and Cooper on vocals. From their 2015 self-titled debut, this motley crew released tracks blending classic rock covers with original material that rarely troubled the charts. Depp is doubling down on his music career. After the conclusion of his<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2022/06/03/what-next-for-johnny-depp-and-amber-heard-after-defamation-trial/"> highly publicised court case</a> against ex-wife<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2022/06/02/amber-heard-unable-to-pay-johnny-depp-104m-in-damages/"> Amber Heard</a>, this month Depp <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/05/30/johnny-depp-leaves-heard-trial-for-uk-music-tour/">travelled to the UK and joined British guitarist Jeff Beck</a> for a series of <a href="http://shows.as/" target="_blank">shows</a> as the duo prepare for the release of a joint album called<i> 18</i> in July. The record has been previewed with the lead single <i>This is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr</i>. Depp’s decision to pick up the guitar seems to be driven more from necessity than indulgence. With his film career currently on ice, courtesy of the domestic abuse allegations raised in the trial, he has turned to music. It's a return to his first artistic love. Depp's first brush with fame came as a guitarist for the punk group The Kids, when he was only 17. It was only through the encouragement of ex-wife Lori Anne Allison and her good friend, a then fledgling actor called <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/television/2021/07/14/nicolas-cage-will-not-play-joe-exotic-in-tiger-king-series-as-amazon-shelves-project/">Nicolas Cage</a>, that Depp decided his creative potential could best be reached on screen rather than on stage. Even when moving to Hollywood, his guitar was never far away. Depp has contributed songs to many of his films, including the Oscar-nominated soundtrack to the 2000 film <i>Chocolat</i>, the 2003 action film <i>Once Upon a Time in Mexico</i> and the 2011 album <i>The Rum Diary</i>, in which he starred alongside Heard.
