The Viper Room is a nightclub located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. It was opened in 1993 and was partly owned by actor Johnny Depp until 2004. The club is well known for having been the site where actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on Halloween morning in 1993. Even following Phoenix’s death, the club remained a hang-out for Hollywood’s hottest young actors. Regulars included Jennifer Aniston and Sean Penn. Adding to that group, Adam Duritz, the lead singer of Counting Crows, hid out as a Viper Room bartender in late 1994 – early 1995 to escape his newfound fame. Johnny Depp had asked Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to play the club’s opening night. They gladly obliged.