Supergroup Hollywood Vampires, fronted by rock icon Alice Cooper, Oscar-nominated actor Johnny Depp and Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry, released their self-titled debut album on Sept. 11, 2015. The album, which serves as a tribute to Cooper's late musician friends, was teased earlier in August on uDiscover's YouTube channel (a part of Universal Music Group).
The band originally started in 1972 as a drinking club for rock stars living in or passing through the Los Angeles area in an upstairs bar of a Sunset Strip club called the Rainbow Bar & Grill. In an interview for USA Today, Cooper discusses the initiation process.
"To join the club, one simply had to out drink all of the members," he said.
Cooper also explained the story behind the group's name and the inspiration for the album with Billboard.
"We were vampires because we never saw daylight -- we drank all night," said Cooper. "Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, the guys we learned from, were guys we drank with. I had never done a covers album, and I said, 'Why don’t we pay tribute to our dead, drunk friends?' They would have gotten the joke -- trust me."
Photo Credit: EW
The star-studded album debuted at number eight on the iTunes Rock charts and includes guest appearances from Sir Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Robby Krieger and Slash, just to name a few. The introductory track titled "The Last Vampire" features late horror icon Sir Christopher Lee reciting a passage from Bram Stoker's "Dracula," which was recorded shortly before Lee's death earlier this year. The album features numerous covers of hits from rock legends including Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Led Zeppelin and The Who, plus two original songs "Raise The Dead" and "My Dead Drunk Friends," which were both written by Cooper, Depp and producer Bob Ezrin.
The band performed a rare two-night gig at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California, on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17. Although no other U.S. tour dates have been announced, the Hollywood Vampires will be performing live in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on Sept. 24 for the Rock in Rio music festival. Joining the band for their live sets are former Guns N' Roses and current Velvet Revolver members Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum playing bass and drums, respectively.
Photo Credit: Instagram
All artist proceeds will be donated to the charity organization MusiCares, which provides emergency health and human services and addiction recovery to the music community. The vinyl edition of the album will be released on Oct. 17. Buy the album on iTunes here.
Photo Credit: The Guardian
