Back in the '70s, a group of rock & roll carousers called themselves the Hollywood Vampires as they crawled the bars of Los Angeles during the dead of night.
Alice Cooper was at the forefront, joined by
Harry Nilsson,
John Lennon,
Ringo Starr,
Keith Moon, and
Micky Dolenz -- a crew so soused that their tales became legend, even if the specifics of the debauchery were often forgotten. Forty years later,
Alice Cooper revived the name Hollywood Vampires when he formed a classic rock supergroup with
Joe Perry and
Johnny Depp. In the spirit of the original Hollywood Vampires, a bunch of other stars were invited to play on the group's eponymous 2015 album; it boasted cameos from
Paul McCartney,
Dave Grohl,
Slash,
Joe Walsh,
Perry Farrell,
AC/DC's
Brian Johnson,
the Doors'
Robby Krieger, and
Winger's
Kip Winger. Hollywood Vampires peaked in the Top 50 on the Billboard 200 and was supported by a tour. When it came time to play live gigs in support of the record,
Cooper,
Perry, and
Depp brought in the
Guns N' Roses rhythm section of bassist
Duff McKagan and drummer
Matt Sorum, adding
Cooper's guitarist
Tommy Henriksen as a third guitarist.
In 2019,
Cooper,
Depp, and
Perry resurrected the project for album number two. The resulting Rise features cameos by
Jeff Beck and
John Waters -- the pair appear on "Welcome to Bushwackers" -- and relies heavily on original material. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi