Johnny Depp’s official farewell to Jeff Beck: The actor is the only other mourner to join the legendary guitarist’s widow (and dog) for burial at home, Alison Boshoff writes
Johnny Depp’s late fellowship with British guitar legend Jeff Beck was so meaningful to both men that Depp was the only other person in attendance when Beck’s wife Sandra said her final goodbyes to him last Saturday.
Beck, 78, died suddenly in January after contracting bacterial meningitis. His funeral was held last Friday and his burial could be revealed the following day in an unusual ‘green’ ceremony in the gardens of his home in Wadhurst, East Sussex.
His widow, Sandra, and their dogs, Buddy and Deb, shared this moment. The 59-year-old actor is understood to be staying in Wadhurst after the funeral.
Friends say he idolizes Sandra and her relationship with Jeff. I was told, “There was real love between the two men, and Johnny admired him and his talent.”
Pictured: Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp performing live at the Royal Albert Hall on May 31, 2022
Depp spent a lot of lockdown in the couple’s home, and in the run-up to his disastrous High Court proceedings, when he sued a newspaper as a ‘wife-beater’ after the breakdown of his marriage to actress Amber Heard.
He and Beck also released an album last year, and went on a short tour of Europe and America.
The actor supported Sandra at Beck’s funeral, and arrived with her at St Mary’s Church in Piddington, Sutton. (There was no sign of London lawyer Joel Rich, with whom he had a romantic relationship last year, and whose friends believe they broke up some time ago.)
‘It was always Jeff’s desire that Johnny find someone good to him, a soulmate, the way Sandra was his soulmate,’ says a friend. They used to talk about it a lot.
Pictured: Jeff Beck with his wife, Sandra, at their home in Sussex
The funeral was more star-studded than initially reported, and reclusive singer Kate Bush was among those in the church. Others include Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, friends from their days on Jeff Beck’s set, cast Depp and Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Bob Geldof, and Beck’s best friend Peter Richardson, who created The Comic Strip Presents.
Singers Joss Stone, Imelda May and Beth Orton performed alongside the local choir.
Depp and Beck met in 2014 in Tokyo, when the Pirates Of The Caribbean star was making a movie and the legendary guitarist was on tour. Deb knocked on Beck’s hotel room door and introduced himself.