Johnny Depp, Jeff Beck Accused of Stealing Lyrics on Their New LP

Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck released an album together in July titled 18. That album features a song titled "Sad Motherf---in’ Parade," and it's billed as a "Johnny Depp original." However, it might not be as original as it claims.

Per Rolling Stone, the track's lyrics are a near word-for-word rip-off from a poem titled "Hobo Ben." (The outlet published and compared the very NSFW lyrics for comparison which can be read here.

The poem is featured in the 1974 book Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me by Bruce Jackson. Jackson's book is a collection of "toasts," which Rolling Stone described as "a wildly outlandish, funny, ribald form of narrative Black folk poetry." (An album featuring recordings of these toasts was released in 1976.) "Hobo Ben," in particular, was the original work of a man referred to as Slim Wilson. Jackson met Wilson while in the Missouri State Penitentiary in 1964.

Jackson told Rolling Stone, "The only two lines I could find in the whole piece that [Depp and Beck] contributed are ‘Big time motherf---er’ and ‘Bust it down to my level.' Everything else is from Slim’s performance in my book. I’ve never encountered anything like this. I’ve been publishing stuff for 50 years, and this is the first time anybody has just ripped something off and put his own name on it."

Rolling Stone also shared a statement from a spokesperson for Depp and Beck's album saying, "We are reviewing the enquiry relating to the song ‘Sad Motherf---in’ Parade’ on the '18' album by Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp. If appropriate, additional copyright credits will be added to all forms of the album."

In the lead-up to the album's release, Beck said in a statement about Depp, "I haven’t had another creative partner like him for ages. He was a major force on this record. I just hope people will take him seriously as a musician because it’s a hard thing for some people to accept that Johnny Depp can sing rock and roll."

As of publishing, neither Depp nor Beck have responded to the report about the lyrics featured on Sad Motherf---in’ Parade."

Actor/Keith Richards impersonator Johnny Depp turns 55 today (June 9), and while the world first fell in love with him as sexy narc Tom Hanson on 21 Jump Street, these days Depp has taken on a different role:  Guitarist in the Hollywood Vampires alongside legends Alice Cooper and Joe Perry.

In honor of his birthday, we've assembled a gallery of Depp's time in the Hollywood Vampires thus far.  The band is currently making its way through Europe on tour, but hopefully, they'll return stateside soon for a run of shows.

HERBORN, GERMANY - MAY 29: Actor/Musician Johnny Depp of Hollywood Vampires performs onstage at Hessentags-Arena during the 56th Hessentag on May 29, 2016 in Herborn, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

HERBORN, GERMANY - MAY 29: Actor/Musician Johnny Depp and Musician Joe Perry of Hollywood Vampires perform onstage at Hessentags-Arena during the 56th Hessentag on May 29, 2016 in Herborn, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

HERBORN, GERMANY - MAY 29: Actor/Musician Johnny Depp of Hollywood Vampires performs onstage at Hessentags-Arena during the 56th Hessentag on May 29, 2016 in Herborn, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 15: (L-R) Singer Alice Cooper, musician Joe Perry and actor/musician Johnny Depp of Hollywood Vampires attend The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 15: (L-R) Actor/musician Johnny Depp, singer Alice Cooper and musician Joe Perry of Hollywood Vampires perform onstage during The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

HERBORN, GERMANY - MAY 29: Musician Alice Cooper (R) and Actor/Musician Johnny Depp of Hollywood Vampires perform onstage at Hessentags-Arena during the 56th Hessentag on May 29, 2016 in Herborn, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

ST PAUL, MN - JULY 17: Johnny Depp and Alice Cooper from The Hollywood Vampires perform at the 2016 Starkey Hearing Foundation "So the World May Hear" awards gala at the St Paul RiverCentre on July 17, 2016 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images for Starkey Hearing Foundation)

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 15: (L-R) Actor-musician Johnny Depp, musician Joe Perry, and singer Alice Cooper of the Hollywood Vampires attend The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 15: Actor/musician Johnny Depp (L) and musician Joe Perry of Hollywood Vampires perform onstage during The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)

HERBORN, GERMANY - MAY 29: Actor/Musician Johnny Depp and Musician Joe Perry of Hollywood Vampires perform onstage at Hessentags-Arena during the 56th Hessentag on May 29, 2016 in Herborn, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 21: Actor Johhny Depp and musician Joe Perry perform onstage at the TEC Awards during NAMM Show 2017 at the Anaheim Hilton on January 21, 2017 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NAMM)