Johnny Depp Announces New Album with Jeff Beck One Week After Defamation Trial Win Against Amber Heard
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New music is on the horizon from Johnny Depp.
On Thursday — eight days after the actor, 59, emerged victorious in his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard — he and Jeff Beck, whom Depp has been touring the U.K. with as of late, announced their upcoming album, titled 18, set to be released on July 15.
"It's an extraordinary honor to play and write music with Jeff, one of the true greats and someone I am now privileged enough to call my brother," Depp said in a release.
The duo also released an official music video for their first single off the new album, titled "This is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr" and which Depp teased on Instagram Wednesday.
"I haven't had another creative partner like him for ages," Beck, 77, said of Depp in the release. "He was a major force on this record. I just hope people will take him seriously as a musician because it's a hard thing for some people to accept that Johnny Depp can sing rock and roll."
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Christie Goodwin Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp
Last week, a seven-person jury consisting of five men and two women found both Depp and Heard, 36, liable for defamation, but sided mostly with the Pirates of the Caribbean star. He was awarded $10.35 million in damages, while the Aquaman actress was awarded $2 million.
Depp and his fans celebrated the verdict, with the actor saying the "jury gave me my life back" in a statement. Heard called the decision a "setback" for women; her lawyer Elaine Bredehoft said last week that her client plans to appeal the verdict.
The jurors found that Heard defamed her ex-husband in her 2018 Washington Post op-ed that didn't mention him by name. In it, she wrote that she "became a public figure representing domestic abuse" and "felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out."
Depp has maintained that he has not assaulted Heard, and has instead accused her of physically harming him.
Depp was not present in the Fairfax County, Virginia, courtroom when the verdict was read on June 1, as he had "previously scheduled work commitments" and was in the U.K., performing with Beck.
Shortly before the verdict was read, the star was spotted hanging out with Beck and fellow musician Sam Fender – who posted a picture with Depp on social media – at the Bridge Tavern in Newcastle, England, where an onlooker told PEOPLE, "He was in a great mood."
Gary Spedding, another pub patron who was at the establishment at the same time as Depp, also opened up about his experience interacting with The Rum Diary actor and what the atmosphere was like "about 45 minutes" before the verdict was read.
"He seemed very happy and comfortable. I think that's really good," Spedding said, in part. "I'm glad that he's in the U.K. with members of a band that he's friends with and enjoying some music and enjoying himself because he deserves that."
