Johnny Depp, Guitarist, Surprises Crowd at Tom Petty Tribute Show

This story first appeared in the Nov. 30 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

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Petty Fest 2012: Musicians Celebrate the Songs of Tom Petty

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The crowd at the El Rey Theatre on Nov. 14 was expecting musicians to drop in to jam at Petty Fest, a charity event for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund where celebs covered Tom Petty’s greatest hits.

PHOTOS: Musicians Celebrate the Songs of Tom Petty at Petty Fest

Members of The Strokes, The Black Keys and Kings of Leon all rocked out, but nobody expected Johnny Depp -- a friend of Petty -- to show up and play guitar on “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” with Ke$ha on vocals.

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And Depp even hung out afterward. “He was looking pretty cool,” says Nick Valensi of The Strokes. “He’s the closest thing to Keith Richards that you’re going to get.”

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The low point? When The Hangover and The New Normal star Justin Bartha sang “Into the Great Wide Open” off-key, then read the words out of a lyrics book.