I know Johnny Depp is ...
Depp of all trades
Question: I know Johnny Depp is multitalented: He can paint, write poetry, act and play at least one instrument. But can he sing? I'm asking because I recently watched Cry-Baby and wondered whether that was him performing the songs.
Answer:
Although I've seen countless references to Johnny Depp's singing in Cry-Baby (1990), the numbers his character performs in the film – "King Cry Baby," "Doin' Time for Bein' Young," "High School Hellcats" and "Teardrops Are Falling" — are sung by roots rocker James Intveld (billed as "John"), whose current credits include touring with the Blasters and costarring in the upcoming movie Chrystal with Billy Bob Thornton. Intveld released his first, self-titled album in 1996. The vocals for Depp's costar, Amy Locane, were dubbed by '70s/'80s country rocker Rachel Sweet. Depp has played guitar in a series of bands (though the only movie in which he's actually played on screen is 2000's Chocolat), most recently the Los Angeles-based P (its other two members are blues-rock veteran Bill Carter and Butthole Surfer Gibby Haynes); P released a self-titled album in 1995. Depp cowrote two songs for Bliss, a 2000 album by his long-time companion, Vanessa Paradis, and wrote "Sands' Theme" for the Once upon a Time in Mexico (2003) soundtrack (writer/director Robert Rodriguez asked all the main to come up with musical ideas that expressed their takes on their characters, but Depp went above and beyond the call of duty). He also performs the composition as part of Tonto's Giant Nuts, a group consisting of Depp, producer and musician Bruce Witkin, P's Carter and his wife, Ruth Ellsworth.
