Johnny Depp returns to jazz festival as guitarist Jeff Beck’s surprise guest

Johnny Depp will return to the Montreux Jazz Festival as a surprise guest performing alongside Jeff Beck, organisers have announced.

The Hollywood actor, 59, will appear at the Swiss music festival on the shores of Lake Geneva with previously announced British guitarist Beck on Friday July 15.

Depp returns to the festival having appeared with the Hollywood Vampires, a supergroup he formed alongside Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, in 2018.

It comes after the pair announced they are releasing a joint album titled 18.

The 13-track record will arrive on the same day as their Montreux show and features two original compositions alongside a number of classic rock covers.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor previously surprised audiences and fans when he joined former Yardbirds musician Beck on stage in the UK this month, while a US jury deliberated on his multimillion-dollar lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard.

After winning his defamation battle over a 2018 article she wrote in the Washington Post, it was announced Depp would be joining Beck for the remainder of his UK tour – having collaborated on the musician’s 2020 track Isolation.

Beatles star John Lennon released Isolation in 1970 and since then it has been covered numerous times, including by Joe Cocker, Marianne Faithfull and Spoon.

Depp and Beck will perform on the Auditorium Stravinski stage at the jazz festival, joining a line-up which includes Motown icon Diana Ross, grime artist Stormzy, Eurovision’s Sam Ryder and alternative rock star Nick Cave.

The 56th Montreux Jazz Festival spans six days beginning on July 1.