With his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard over after six very public weeks, Johnny Depp is not hanging around Northern Virginia as the jury deliberates. He made an unexpected appearance in Sheffield, England, to rock out on stage with Jeff Beck on three cover tunes while wearing a beret.

Depp and the trailblazing British guitar player have known one another since at least 2019. The actor hopped on stage when Beck rolled into Tulsa that year, and in April 2020, the pair released a surprise duet of John Lennon’s song “Isolation” from the 1970 John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album. 

According to Beck’s website, the track was one of a number of songs they recorded (with Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Rhonda Smith on bass) in 2019. Considering the appropriateness of the “isolation” theme during the early days of the pandemic, it was the first out of the gate. (Other works from these sessions have yet to be released.)

On Sunday in Sheffield, Depp joined Beck and his group on “Isolation,” as well as Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On.”

The latter appears to have been an instrumental, with Depp grooving along on rhythm guitar.

Not the case with “Little Wing.”

Depp owns a home in Somerset, which is a little less than a four-hour drive away from Sheffield. In addition to starring in blockbusters like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the 58-year-old has had musical side gigs for some time. He has appeared on albums by Marilyn Manson, Ryan Adams, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Oasis, Aerosmith, and, of course, he did his own singing in the 2007 film version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He also formed the group Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry in 2012. Their two albums have featured appearances by Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, and the late Christopher Lee. 

If Jeff Beck is one of those names you’ve always heard, but don’t know much about, the 77-year-old got his start in one of the quintessential British blues-rock-pop bands of the 1960s, The Yardbirds. The first lead guitarist for the group was “Top” Topham, but when he left, his seat became a catapult to international fame. First came Eric Clapton, who filled the role for approximately two years. Beck came next, and after he left Jimmy Page took the baton. When Page exited he formed a band that he first called The New Yardbirds, but then changed the name to Led Zeppelin.

When Beck split the Yardbirds he formed The Jeff Beck Group, featuring Rod Stewart on vocals and future Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood on bass. He eventually expanded from hard-driving blues-rock and created what this writer deems the two of the finest “fusion” records of all time, 1975’s Blow By Blow and 1976’s Wired. These albums can hold their own against the Mahavishnu Orchestra, against Miles Davis’s work from the period, and even Zappa’s Roxy and Elsewhere material. Behold: 

Alas, the Sheffield gig did not include Johnny Depp jamming out to tunes from this period, which have names like “Constipated Duck” and “Head for Backstage Pass.” And he definitely passed on a common Beck tune, a cover of the Stevie Wonder deep cut “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers.” 

Back in Virginia, the jury will soon decide Amber Heard’s fate in a lawsuit for $50 million worth of damages, after she labeled herself a victim of domestic abuse, though without naming Depp, in an op-ed. Heard has countersued Depp for $100 million.