Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck have announced details of a collaborative album called ’18’ and shared its first single.

Depp made headlines last month (May 29) when he was a surprise guest at Beck’s show in Sheffield. The pair performed covers of John Lennon, Marvin Gaye and Jimi Hendrix, and the actor went on to join Beck on stage at a handful of other gigs despite awaiting the verdict in his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard at the time.

The new album, recorded over the past three years, is coming out on July 15. Beck said: “When Johnny and I started playing together, it really ignited our youthful spirit and creativity. We would joke about how we felt 18 again, so that just became the album title too.”

The album’s first single, ‘This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr’, is an original by Depp. “I was blown away by it,” Beck said of the track. “That song is one of the reasons I asked him to make an album with me.”
Depp added: “It’s an extraordinary honour to play and write music with Jeff, one of the true greats and someone I am now privileged enough to call my brother.”
Hear the new track below.

Elsewhere, Depp has thanked fans for their support in a message on social media after winning his defamation trial against ex-wife Heard.

Depp won his defamation trial earlier this month, where a jury found that Heard had defamed her ex-husband when she wrote a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post about being a survivor of domestic violence.

Heard didn’t mention Depp by name in the piece, though his lawyers argued it falsely implied she was sexually and physically abused by him in their marriage.

Following the ruling Depp was awarded $10million (£8million) in compensatory damages and $5million in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2million in compensatory damages for her counterclaim against Depp. Heard plans to appeal the verdict.

In a statement released after the verdict, Heard said: “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.”

“I am, and have been, overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and the colossal support and kindness from around the world,” Depp said in his own statement following the trial. “I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up.”