Beginnings
Johnny Depp developed his interest in music by watching his cousins, who belonged to a gospel ensemble and when they visited his house they used to sing gospel songs. At the age of twelve, his mother bought him an electric guitar which he learned to play by himself while listening to records. He began playing in some garage bands until he created his own band in honor of his girlfriend at the time, Meredith.
When his parents divorced, Depp dropped out of high school with the idea of becoming a musician. During the 1980s he formed Flame, at first they simply wore T-shirts with the band’s name emblazoned on them, and played with the Belgian group The Kids. Due to financial problems, he temporarily left music and began to dedicate himself to acting: “I never thought about acting, but we had to pay rents, bills… We had to look for alternatives”.
Depp used a slide in Oasis’s songs «Fade In-Out» and «Fade Away». He also played an acoustic guitar in the movie Chocolat (2000) and participated in the soundtrack of “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” (2003). He collaborated as well in Shane MacGowan’s first solo album, from the Pogues, a friend of his. He was also member of “P”, a group formed by the singer of Butthole Surfers, Gibby Haynes, the bass player of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea, and the guitar player of Sex Pistols, Steve Jones. He has appeared in videoclips like Into the Great Wide Open de Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Creep de Radiohead. He also collaborated with the artist Marilyn Manson for the song «You’re So Vain» —original from Carly Simon— from the album Born Villain from 2012, as well as in the videoclip «My Valentine» and «Queenie Eye» from Paul McCartney.
