Nightclub in West Hollywood, California US
The Viper Room is a nightclub and live music venue located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States. It was established under its current name in 1993,[citation needed] being co-owned by actors and 21 Jump Street co-stars Johnny Depp and Sal Jenco.[1] The Viper Room has undergone several changes in ownership, with the present owner being Viper Holdings, Ltd CEO James Cooper. It continues to host music of multiple genres, including metal, punk, and alternative rock. While predominantly known as a music venue, the Viper Room also has a lower level which is home to a large whiskey bar.
The club became known as a hangout spot for the young Hollywood elite, and gained infamy for its drug-related incidents; actor River Phoenix had a fatal drug overdose in 1993, actor Jason Donovan suffered a drug-induced seizure in 1995 but survived, and singer Courtney Love survived an overdose in 1995 after Depp gave her CPR.[2] In 1997, singer Michael Hutchence played his last public performance in the Viper Room before taking his own life a week later.
History
The location was originally a grocery store from 1921 into the 1940s. In the 1940s, it was converted into a nightclub called the "Cotton Club", entirely unrelated to the Harlem original. This was soon replaced by "The Greenwich Village Inn", the "Rue Angel" and finally "The Last Call" during the 1940s. From 1951 to 1969, the location was a bar called "The Melody Lounge". In 1969, it became "Filthy McNasty's".[3] and in the 1980s, a jazz club called "The Central".[4][5] This nightclub was close to shutting down before Chuck E. Weiss, who had performed there for years, suggested to Depp that he should revitalize the spot and rename it "The Viper Room".[6] Tom Waits also had a hand in redeveloping the spot.[7]
The venue
Despite the death of River Phoenix the year the venue opened, the club became and remained a hangout for Hollywood's most popular young actors and musicians. Adam Duritz, the lead singer of Counting Crows, worked as a Viper Room bartender in late 1994 and early 1995 to escape his newfound fame.[8]
Ownership
As part of the settlement of a lawsuit involving the disappearance of co-owner Anthony Fox in December 2001, Depp relinquished his ownership of the Viper Room in 2004.[9] The club changed hands multiple times between 2004 and 2016; the club is currently owned by Viper Room Holdings, Ltd. CEO James Cooper.[10][11]
Intellectual property and lawsuits
A nightclub formerly called "The Viper Room" exists in Cincinnati. The club changed its name to "The Poison Room" on January 1, 2006, after they were told by the West Hollywood Viper Room to stop using the name.[12] Another "Viper Room" in Portland was also told to stop using the name under threat of a trademark lawsuit, with the Viper Room's former owner claiming that "every dollar they make is the result of using our name".[13] Abroad, there is also a legal brothel in Brisbane called "The Viper Room" and nightclubs boasting the name (or a similar one) in Harrogate, Sheffield, Stockholm, and Vienna.
Until February 2009, there was a nightclub with the same name in Melbourne; it was closed down due to a spate of violent incidents that included two shootings as well as license breaches and the arrest of a co-owner on drug charges.[14] On April 16, 2011, a nightclub named "The Viper Room" opened its doors in the city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The club is named after the club in Hollywood and is decorated in the same style as the American club.[15] In 2016, The Viper Room began issuing cease and desist notices to bootleg merchandise sellers on eBay and other online storefronts.
The original building where the club is currently located is slated to be demolished by 2023, to make way for a replacement club, retail and a five star hotel tower.[16]
Performers
At Depp's request, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed on the club's opening night.[17]
Johnny Cash performed at the venue, debuting material that would later appear on American Recordings (1994).[18] In 1997, the Viper Room was also a place of a few early solo live performances by John Frusciante at the time of his bad physical condition caused by drug abuse.
Other performers include Hot Mom, Avril Lavigne, Neurotic Outsiders (featuring Duff McKagan, The Penfifteen Club, Steve Jones and John Taylor), Keanu Reeves (who performed there with his band Dogstar in 1997), The Cult, Slash, X, Julliette and the Licks, Concrete Blonde, Green Day, Courtney Love, Hole, Joey Ramone, Tenacious D,[19] The Strokes,[20] and Cher.[21]
