FIRST BLOOD!
IT began as a drinking club on California’s Sunset Strip – a motley crew of celebrities who came together to swill booze and have fun.
But since 2013, three of The Hollywood Vampires – Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith rocker Joe Perry – have been jamming together as a band.
Now the group is coming to the UK for the first time – including a stop at the NEC’s Genting Arena on June 16 – to play their bluesy, rock versions of songs by the music heroes of yesteryear.
The Hollywood Vampires first took to the stage at Hollywood’s Roxy Theatre in 2015, being joined by guest members, including Brummie Black Sabbath legend Geezer Butler, Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell and pop star Kesha.
On their first tour of the UK they’ll be supported by The Darkness and The Damned.
Also joining the Hollywood Vampires will be some of their rock star friends and modern-day Vampires, who will be revealed soon.
Tickets go on sale today at 9am, and are priced from £52.05 including admin fee and a £2.55 fulfilment fee per order from The Ticket Factory.
Perry vows that his group is going to blow people away.
He told USA TODAY: “I don’t say things like this often, but this band is (bleeping) good.
Depp warns audience members: “There will be a rumbling in ears and there might be blood trickling out of one of them.”
Cooper adds: “Then we’ll know we’ve done our job.”
The story of the Hollywood Vampires began in the 1970s on the Sunset Strip at the Rainbow Bar & Grill’s upstairs bar. It was a gathering place for the rock stars living in or passing through L.A.
“To join the club, one simply had to out drink all of the members,” says Cooper.
“I would walk in on a typical night and John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon — who would usually be in a costume like a maid or a chauffeur — Bernie Taupin and Mickey Dolenz would be there.”