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Johnny Depp, Jeff Beck announce release of new album

Actor Johnny Depp has decided to get back to work after his victory in his defamation lawsuit against his former wife, Amber Heard.

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Legendary guitarist Jeff Beck announced during a Thursday concert in Gateshead, England, that he and Depp, 58, will be releasing a new album next month, Variety reported.

Depp joined Beck during a six-song set at the concert and bowed to the crowd during the guitarist’s announcement, the entertainment website reported.

The announcement came a day after Depp was awarded a total of $15 million in damages as a jury in Fairfax, Virginia, found Heard liable for a defamatory statement in a 2018 opinion piece she wrote for The Washington Post. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Judge Penney Azcarate reduced the punitive damages to Virginia’s statutory cap of $350,000, making the final total $10,350,000.

The jury also ruled in favor of a counterclaim by Heard that Depp’s attorney called her abuse allegations a hoax, awarding her $2 million in damages. Heard is also appealing the decision.

Depp did not reference his legal battle during Thursday’s concert, Deadline reported.

>> Johnny Depp, Amber Heard defamation suit: Jury finds Heard, Depp both liable

“I’m gonna take this opportunity and tell you I met this guy five years ago, and we’ve never stopped laughing since,” Beck told the crowd about Depp (via Stereogum), Entertainment Weekly reported. “We actually made an album. I don’t know how it happened. It will be out in July.”

The set Depp and Beck played on Thursday reportedly included covers of songs by Dennis Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix and Killing Joke, according to Variety.

Depp has appeared onstage several times with Beck during the past week as he awaited the verdict in the defamation case. He appeared with Beck in Sheffield on Sunday, playing guitar on three songs, Rolling Stone reported. Depp, who formed the band Hollywood Vampires in 2012 with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, played guitar on John Lennon’s “Isolation,” a song Depp and Beck covered together in 2020, according to the magazine.

Beck is scheduled to play Saturday in Manchester, followed by concerts in Birmingham on Monday and York on Tuesday, Variety reported. It was unclear whether Depp will appear at those events, the entertainment website reported.