Paul McCartney Helps Out Johnny Depp's Supergroup

Records 1969 hit for Hollywood Vampires
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2015 10:11 AM CST
Updated Mar 6, 2015 10:55 AM CST

Johnny Depp has strong feelings about actors-turned-musicians, but apparently those criticisms do not apply to actors-turned-supergroup-guitarists. Word has been going around since last year that Depp was in a new band with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, and firmer details are finally starting to emerge: The band is called the Hollywood Vampires, a full album is being released at some point, a tour will probably happen in the fall, and Paul McCartney is involved. McCartney isn't actually a member of the band, but, Perry tells Rolling Stone, the former Beatle contributed one track to the upcoming album: a new version of "Come and Get It," which he wrote and produced for Badfinger (then called the Iveys) and has rarely performed since 1969.

Perry explains, "The record is dedicated to all the friends we've lost to drugs and alcohol over the years and getting people to come in and cover the songs their friends wrote." Rolling Stone explains how Badfinger fits in: Members Pete Ham and Tom Evans took their own lives. Perry adds that Cooper shared lead vocals with McCartney on the track. Few other details (like when to expect the album) have been released, but Rolling Stone notes that the Hollywood Vampires are scheduled to play at Rock in Rio in September, and Perry says the full tour is being planned for that same month. How Billboard frames the chances of McCartney appearing on said tour: "unlikely." Rolling Stone explains where the group's name comes from—and it involves another Beatle. (More Joe Perry stories.)

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