Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck release album '18' in wake of Amber Heard court battle

The actor has teamed up with English rocker Jeff Beck to launch a collection of covers

US actor Johnny Depp performs on stage at the Helsinki Blues Festival, Finland, 19 June 2022. EPA / KIMMO BRANDT

Fresh from his controversial court battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp has released a music album with English rocker Jeff Beck.

Depp sings and plays guitar on the 13-track album, 18, which mainly features covers. There are renditions of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, John Lennon's Isolation and, controversially given its subject matter, the Velvet Underground classic Venus in Furs.

The album also includes two songs the Pirates of the Caribbean star wrote himself, including This is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr. "Erased by the same world that made her a star / Spun out of beauty, trapped by its web," Depp pointedly sings of film actress and inventor Lamarr, who secluded herself in the final years of her life.

The album is available on CD and digitally, with a 180-gram black vinyl version due for release on September 30.

“His limited vocal range won't make anyone forget Rod Stewart’s turns with Beck,” says a review on Ultimateclassicrock.com of Depp’s latest endeavour, although the article also acknowledges that anything Beck puts his hand to has some merit.

Amber Heard said last month that she stands by 'every word' of her testimony in her defamation trial, in which she was sued by former husband Johnny Depp. AFP

NBC journalist Savannah Guthrie interviewed Heard in June following the trial's conclusion. She revealed how her husband Michael Feldman consulted with Depp's legal team. Photo: NBC News

Heard says she doesn’t blame the jury for awarding Depp more than $15 million after a contentious six-week libel trial — it was later reduced to $10m. AP

Heard reacts with her lawyer Elaine Bredehoft after the verdict was read at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse, Virginia, US, in June. AP

Depp was in Newcastle, England, with musician Jeff Beck when the verdict was read. AP

Heard leaves after the jury's verdict. EPA

Heard and Depp prior to their wedding. The marriage lasted less than two years. AP

Heard in a scene from 'London Fields'. Photo: GVN Releasing

After losing his lawsuit against British tabloid 'The Sun', Depp said he planned to appeal the UK libel ruling, but then decided to sue his ex-wife in the US. AP

Heard speaking at the 4th Annual Women's March LA: Women Rising in Los Angeles in January 2020. Getty Images / AFP

Heard leaving the High Court in London in July 2020. Reuters

A video of Depp plays on a screen before Paul McCartney's performance on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival in June. EPA

After speaking out about domestic abuse, Amber Heard feared she would lose her roles in the movies 'Justice League' and 'Aquaman', the latter of which she starred in opposite Jason Momoa. Photo: DC Entertainment

Depp gestures as he arrives at the Parco della Musica venue for the 19th edition of "Alice nella Citta" in Rome, Italy. AFP

Heard wearing an outfit from Monique Lhuillier at the Golden Globes in 2019. Reuters

Heard arrives on the red carpet for a Golden Globes ceremony. AFP

Heard watches the men's semi-final match at Wimbledon in 2018. EPA

Since the trial, Depp has been playing guitar on stage in front of fans. AP

Heard at the Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California, in 2020. Reuters

Heard attends the Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2016. Getty Images

Heard wears a creation for the L'Oreal Spring/Summer 2022 fashion show presented in Paris, France, in 2021. AP

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Helen Mirren and Heard in Paris, France. AP

After Depp filed a lawsuit against her, Heard testified she lost her contract with L'Oreal. AFP

Depp inside the courtroom in April at the beginning of the trial. AP

Heard is styled backstage during Paris Fashion Week in 2021. Getty Images

Depp performs on stage at the Helsinki Blues Festival in June. EPA

British rock guitarist Jeff Beck and Depp perform on stage at the Helsinki Blues Festival. EPA

Depp waves to supporters as he departs the Fairfax County Courthouse after closing arguments. He never returned for the reading of the verdict. AP

Depp received the Gold Medal of Merit on the occasion of Serbia's Statehood Day in Belgrade, Serbia, in February. Reuters

Depp and Heard's former penthouse sits on top of Downtown Los Angeles’s famed Eastern Columbia Building and was recently put up for sale. Photo: Douglas Elliman Realty

There is a saltwater pool on the rooftop. Photo: Douglas Elliman Realty

There is an additional lounge area on the staircase landing. Photo: Douglas Elliman Realty

The apartment measures 1,780 square feet. Photo: Douglas Elliman Realty

The penthouse apartment has one bedroom. Photo: Douglas Elliman Realty

The kitchen and lounge area. Photo: Douglas Elliman Realty

Depp and Beck met in 2016, reportedly bonding over cars and guitars before the English musician began to appreciate "Depp's serious songwriting skills and ear for music”.

They began collaborating on this album in 2019 and Depp began joining Beck onstage while his sensationalised defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard was still underway. Depp is also planning to go on tour with his own band, Hollywood Vampires, in the summer of 2023, and will return to acting and in the forthcoming French film La Favorite.

Depp took to TikTok to promote the new album, in only his second ever video on the social media platform. He joined TikTok on the day his trial with Heard ended and quickly amassed more than 15 million followers.

This week, Amber Heard lost an attempt to have the verdict in her trial with Depp thrown out on the grounds the one of the jurors in the case had been misidentified. The latest ruling comes six weeks after a jury in Fairfax, Virginia, decided Heard had defamed Depp when she wrote an article saying she had been a victim of domestic abuse. He was awarded $10.35m (£8.2m) in damages.