ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Alice Cooper

PROFILE: Alice Cooper is an American singer, songwriter and actor whose career spans over five decades. With his distinctively raspy voice and a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, deadly snakes, baby dolls, and dueling swords, Cooper created a theatrical brand of hard rock designed to shock. He is considered to be “The Godfather of Shock Rock” and has drawn equally from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to create a theatrical aspect to rock music that did not exist before.

CURRENT MEMBERS:

Alice Cooper – Lead vocals, guitar, harmonica
Ryan Roxie – Guitar, backing vocals
Chuck Garric – Bass, backing vocals
Glen Sobel – Drums, percussion
Tommy Henriksen – Guitar, backing vocals
Nita Strauss – Guitar, backing vocals

DID YOU KNOW?

Cooper is known for his social and witty persona offstage. The Rolling Stone Album Guide called him the world’s most “beloved heavy metal entertainer.”
He is credited with helping to shape the sound and look of heavy metal, and has been described as the artist who “first introduced horror imagery to rock ‘n’ roll, and whose stagecraft and showmanship have permanently transformed the genre.
Cooper is also a popular radio DJ with his classic rock show Nights with Alice Cooper that has been aired across the United States and Canada since 2004.
He attended Cortez High School in Phoenix, Arizona and eventually earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Glendale Community College.
Since overcoming his own addiction to alcohol in the mid-1980s, cooper has continued to help and counsel other rock musicians with addiction problems. Cooper said, “I’ve made myself very available to friends of mine – they’re people who would call me late at night and say, ‘Beetween you and me, I’ve got a problem.'” In recognition of the work he has done in helping other addicts in the recovery process, Cooper received the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award in 2008.
According to www.axs.com, Cooper’s creation of Shock Rock was an accident. The incident that started it all happened at the Toronto Peace Festival when someone in the audience threw a live chicken on the stage. Cooper thought the chicken could fly and tossed it into the air. It landed in the crowd and died, blood spraying everywhere. The incident spread like wildfire and the legend was born.
Alice Cooper is a golfer! He actually wrote a book called Golf Monster: My 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict began golfing to help battle his alcoholism.
His father was a preacher in the Church of Jesus Christ in Phoenix, Arizona. Cooper was an active member of the congregation growing up.
In 1976, Cooper married Sheryl (nee Goddard), a dancer in his show. The couple is still married and has three kids. Their oldest daughter Calico followed in her mom’s footsteps and performs in her father’s shows.
In 1988, Cooper ran for governor in his home state of Arizona using the slogan “Alice Cooper: A Troubled Man for Troubled Times.”
He owns his own restaurant! Cooper’stown restaurant in Arizona has been serving up lunch and dinner since 1998.
Cooper has his own Bon Jovi song called “The Ballad of Alice Cooper.”
Someone threw a live boa constrictor onstage during one gig and Neal adopted the snake, naming her Kachina. Kachina became Neal’s treasured pet and the centerpiece of the group’s live show. You can see her on the cover of their album, “Killer.”