STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Joined By JOHNNY DEPP On Stage At U.S. Tour Kick-Off (Video)

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS were joined by Wayne Kramer (MC5) and actor Johnny Depp on stage last night at the opening show of the band's U.S. tour at The Canyon in Santa Clarita, California. They performed a cover version of MC5's classic song "Kick Out the Jams" followed by the STP's "Sex Type Thing". Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

Depp is a bandmate of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS bassist Robert DeLeo in HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, which also features Alice Cooper and Joe Perry.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS guitarist Dean DeLeo said in a recent interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune that the band would have quit if it hadn't found the right singer to succeed the late Scott Weiland and Chester Bennington. DeLeo explained: "If we didn't find the person we felt we could move forward with, we ultimately would have put a fork in it."

But that person turned out to be former "X Factor" contestant Jeff Gutt, with DeLeo saying: "There was no room for error. That's why we spent nearly a year together with Jeff before we invited him to join the band. We wanted to make sure it was the right decision. But we did find somebody who could not ony do the catalog of our previous songs justice, but someone we could write new songs with, too."

Gutt, a Michigan native, was previously a member of the bands RIVAL CITY and DRY CELL. Asked whether Gutt not being an established star was an advantage for the group, DeLeo replied: "I wanted a person I knew we could write songs with... I didn't give a shit if Jeff was well-known or not. I just wanted a guy who could do the gig."

Gutt's first album with the band, a self-titled effort and STP's seventh overall, is due out on March 16.