Actor Dennis Hopper (1936-2010) was an incomparable cinematic icon who died at the age of 74. He was so notable that The Waterboys are doing a concept album about him and have enlisted top-tier talent to help out. The guest performers include Steve Earle, Fiona Apple, Bruce Springsteen, and other stars. Per Pitchfork, Life, Death, And Dennis Hopper is slated to drop on April 4. A single titled "Hopper's On Top (Genius)" will be released on January 10.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The album is not only meant to commemorate Dennis Hopper's amazing life. (It would probably take an entire record store of albums to do that!). The intended goal, observed The Waterboys' Mike Scott, is to honor "the whole strange adventure of being a human soul on planet earth."
Mike Scott Of The Waterboys Graciously Paid Tribute To Dennis Hopper
Hopper Was Often Front And Center In Strenuously Advocating For Social Change
According to a press release via Pitchfork, Scott expressed his deep and sincere admiration for Hopper. "The arc of his life was the story of our times. He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol. He was part of the counter-culture, hippie, civil rights, and psychedelic scenes of the '60s."
There will be 25 tracks on the album. They include songs such as "Live in the Moment, Baby," "Hollywood '55," and "Freaks on Wheels."
Dennis Hopper Had A Remarkable Life And Career
He Was Married Five Times
His obituary in The New York Times called him a "Hollywood rebel," and the label seemed to fit. Per Britannica, his early films included such gems as Cool Hand Luke and Rebel Without a Cause, but it was Hopper's direction of one of the emblematic movies of the 1960s, Easy Rider, that truly established him as a legend.
Per the outlet, "By the mid-1980s Hopper, having overcome his addictions, had engineered a career resurgence. In 1986 he appeared in director David Lynch's Blue Velvet as the sadistic Frank Booth and in Hoosiers as the alcoholic assistant coach of a small-town basketball team...."
He was also an accomplished photographer.
