Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck announce new joint album called '18'

Jeff Beck, left, has collaborated with Johnny Depp on an album to be released on July 15. Photo montage / AP, File

Fresh off his legal battle with his ex-wife, Johnny Depp has announced that he and legendary guitarist Jeff Beck will release an album of mostly covers next month.

The duo's 13-track album is titled 18 and will be out on July 15. They said they titled the album after the creative outburst they felt working together. "We would joke about how we felt 18 again so that just became the album title, too," Beck said in a statement.

The album contains covers of The Velvet Underground's Venus In Furs, the Everly Brothers' ballad Let It Be Me and Marvin Gaye's soul classic What's Going On. There also are versions of Davy Spillane's Midnight Walker and two songs from the Beach Boys' masterpiece Pet Sounds - Caroline, No and Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder).

Cover art for the album '18' by Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp. Illustration / Rhino Records via AP

Depp supplied two originals, including This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr, the set's first single. The cover of the album - a sketch of two young men in white T-shirts - was designed by Beck's wife, Sandra.

Depp, long a member of the rock group Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, started recording with Beck in 2019, and Depp has joined Beck's current European tour.

Earlier this month, a jury sided with Depp in his defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, awarding the Pirates of the Caribbean actor more than $10 million and vindicating his allegations that Heard defamed him by accusing him of abusing her before and during their brief marriage.

Johnny Depp leaving a Sage concert venue after performing with Jeff Beck in Gateshead, England. Photo / Scott Heppell, AP

But in a split decision, the jury also found that Heard was defamed by one of Depp's lawyers, who accused her of creating a detailed hoax that included roughing up the couple's apartment to look worse for police. The jury awarded her $2m.

- AP