Johnny Depp to tour UK with The Hollywood Vampires next summer

Johnny Depp will kick off a UK tour with his band the Hollywood Vampires in Scarborough next summer.

The rock supergroup, which also features Alice Cooper and Aerosmith's Joe Perry, will play their first UK date in North Yorkshire on 5 July.

The band was forced to cancel its 2020 tour due to the pandemic.

Mr Depp shocked music fans in May when he appeared on stage in Yorkshire with guitarist Jeff Beck during a defamation trial in the US involving the actor.

The band, along with guitarist Tommy Henriksen, will come to the UK after a run of dates in Europe.

Cooper said: "I can't wait to get back with the guys, I really love being in that band.

"My band is great and wonderful, but playing with the Vampires is an entirely different situation.

"I don't necessarily do any theatrics at all, I'm just the lead singer, in a band, and the band just happens to be one of the best bands around. It'll be great to see Johnny and Joe and Buck and Chris and all the guys.

"We'll be rocking these places, especially the UK, I can't wait to get to the UK. Lock your doors, put garlic all around, because the Vampires are coming."

The tour starts at Scarborough's Open Air Theatre which has played host to a number of superstars in recent years, including Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, who both began their respective UK tours in the spa town.

Mr Depp joined musician Jeff Beck's European tour to play guitar and sing at Sheffield City Hall in May, after a jury had started its deliberations following a six-week trial in Virginia involving Mr Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard.

The US jury found Ms Heard defamed ex-husband with an article in which she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse. Ms Heard, 36, won one of three counter-claims against Mr Depp.

The Hollywood Vampires play songs in tribute to the "great lost heroes of music" as well as their own original material from their 2015 self-titled debut album and their 2019 release Rise.

The tour includes stops in Swansea, Manchester, London and Birmingham before ending in Glasgow on 12 July. Tickets go on sale on 28 October.

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