Entertainment 3 min read 1h ago

Büffel Meets Depp Backstage in Cologne

Lorenz Büffel met Johnny Depp backstage at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne on 29 August 2026, presenting him with a symbolic platinum record for the tribute song 'Johnny Däpp'.
The 2016 party hit has sold more than 600,000 copies and amassed nearly 100 million streams; Büffel credits it with launching his career.
Depp told Büffel the band had played 'Johnny Däpp' on their tour bus before the Hollywood Vampires concert that evening.

German Ballermann singer Lorenz Büffel, 47, met his self-described greatest idol, Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, 63, backstage at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne on 29 August 2026, presenting him with a symbolic platinum record for the 2016 party hit Johnny Däpp — a song Büffel says was written as a direct tribute to the star.

A decade in the making

The meeting marked the culmination of a decade-long journey for Büffel. The song, which he says originated from a spontaneous burst of inspiration in 2016, has since sold more than 600,000 copies and accumulated nearly 100 million streams. It was that same year that Büffel first performed the track at the Megapark venue on Mallorca, reportedly having to play it six times in a single night due to audience demand. He has since become a fixture of the German party-schlager scene. "Without Johnny Depp," he said backstage, "I wouldn't exist as a party-schlager singer in the way I do."

The backstage encounter

Outside the dressing room, 9,500 fans filled the arena for a Hollywood Vampires concert — the rock group founded in 2012 that features Depp alongside Alice Cooper, 78, and Joe Perry, 75. Inside, Büffel waited with his wife Emily, 34, and their five-year-old son Leo. According to an account of the meeting, Depp's attention turned first to the child: he knelt down, embraced the boy, and greeted him with a high five. He then turned to Büffel and said: "You have a very sweet son."

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Büffel, who had been described as more nervous ahead of the encounter than before his own stage performances, struggled to contain his emotions. "I revere Johnny Depp, I love his films," he said. "The song is a tribute to this great actor."

Depp on the tribute track

Depp acknowledged knowing the song. "I hear your song again and again in my dreams," he told Büffel, before adding — with a grin, according to those present — that the band had listened to Johnny Däpp on their tour bus en route to the venue that evening. "For atmosphere and good cheer," he said.

The two men spoke about Germany, the loyalty of fans, and Mallorca. Depp said he had heard a great deal about the island but had never visited. "Maybe that will work out sometime," he remarked. Büffel said the encounter felt like "a beautiful dream". The platinum disc was accepted as a gift, and Depp embraced the family several times before they parted.

A moment of cultural symmetry

The meeting underlines how a throwaway creative impulse — Büffel has described the song's origins as a "beer-fuelled whim" — can, over ten years and hundreds of millions of streams, bridge the considerable distance between a Mallorca stage and a Hollywood dressing room. Whether Depp will make good on his tentative interest in visiting Mallorca remains to be seen.

Topics

Celebrity EncountersGerman Pop Music

People

Johnny DeppLorenz Büffel

Organizations

Hollywood Vampires

Places

Lanxess Arena, Cologne

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