The story of the emergence of the "king of shock-rock" Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer and songwriter, widely known as the "king" of the "shock-rock" genre. The stunning popularity of the "nightmare" genius is due to his pioneering activity: Cooper managed to break the limits of ideas about the possibilities of a rock artist on stage, to delight the audience, and to popularize the "splendor of horror"... No doubt: his influence on the music world is as great as his record sales! Alice Cooper turned his shows into the mainstream, reviving the American varieties of glam-punk and gothic-soaked heavy metal long before those genres became common currency!
He is one of the brightest and most charismatic performers in the music business! And who would have thought that away from the stage persona Alice Cooper is quite a friendly and educated man, an amateur golfer, restaurateur, movie actor and just a great friend! This is the mysterious personality that we intend to reveal today...
Childhood
Vincent Damon Fournier was born in Detroit in February 1948 into a family of hereditary Protestant clergy.
In 1961, 13-year-old Vincent almost died... After moving to Arizona, the boy was diagnosed with neglected peritonitis. As he later recalled himself:
"I only survived because of a miracle!"
Getting started
Back in high school, Vincent formed The Earwigs, which was later renamed The Spiders. In Arizona, the band managed to build up a decent reputation, largely due to the heady mix of garage rock and high-level theatricality of their performances! A bit later the band will announce itself under a new name - "Alice Cooper" (a reference to the heroine of Mayberry RFD show)! The same name will be taken by our hero...
Never one to shirk his responsibilities, Vincent fully embraced his role: his image, consisting of an abundance of tattered clothing and intimidating makeup, was a crazy combination of the styles of his main idols...
Musical career
Alice Cooper's golden lineup shattered the rock scene in 1971 with a horror bomb called "I'm Eighteen"!
Soon after, "School's Out" reached the top marks, as well as the release of "Billion Dollar Babies", which elevated the band to the Olympus of commercial success! But first things first...
Early recordings...
Alice Cooper's early recordings were darkly psychedelic, clearly influenced by Pink Floyd and Jim Morrison, whom Alice Cooper himself idolized so much...
The track "I'm Eighteen" was released in 1971 and blew up all the rock charts! It was followed by "Killer", "School's Out" and "Billion Dollar Babies". All 3 releases went platinum! So, by 1973 Alice and his band had become true superstars! They were as important as, say, David Bowie, Queen or Elton John...
Some of the most popular singles from this period include: "Public Animal", "Luney Tune" and "Blue Turk".
Solo career
At the age of 26, Alice Cooper is immersed in a solo career. Quite tall, aggressive image, provocative creativity and incredible performances on stage - all this amazed the audience, provoking its genuine interest in the person of our hero... No less scandalous were the artist's antics: for example, to this day there are rumors about how Vincent allegedly bit the heads off chickens and ate their blood right on stage... Was it really? We don't know for sure. But in every such "rumor", just as in a joke, as a rule, there is some truth...
Cooper's most successful solo recordings are: "Welcome To My Nightmare", "From The Inside" and "Special Forces".
Very soon fame overwhelmed Vincent! And... our hero became addicted to alcohol (and not only)... Cooper spent the second half of the 1970s in oblivion: an eternal cycle of parties, concerts, hotels, alcohol... Soon the rocker's health began to "flounder", and in the early 1980s Vincent was treated in one of the most prestigious clinics in New York. This period was marked by a creative crisis for the musician... After treatment Alice needed a lot of time to find himself and inspiration...
A new round of glory!
Having triumphed over his noxious ailment, Alice Cooper returned to the stage! Soon he released "Trash", the most important album of this period, recorded by Vincent with the participation of other famous musicians! The track "Royson" was a hit in 1989, and the music video was the masterpiece of the decade...
Many more victories were in store for the musician... Thus, his duet with Rob Zombie ("Hands of Death") earned Vincent a nomination for a Grammy Award. And soon afterwards a series of world tours followed... The metal player often visited Russia as well! Filled with impressions, in 2001 Cooper released the record "Dragontown".
Somewhat later our hero was awarded his own name star on the Hollywood Walk, as well as the prestigious "Mojo Awards"! During the same period such compositions as "Feed My Frankenstein", "Vengeance Is Mine", "Love's A Loaded Gun" and "Hey, stoopid" were released.
Duets with other stars...
The beginning of the noughties brought the world vivid duets of Alice Cooper with other, not less recognizable creative personalities! Let's remember the most popular and unforgettable of them...
In 2007 Vincent stirred up the audience with his performance with Marilyn Manson! It happened at a festival in Budapest... Later both shock-rockers spoke about each other and about their duet exclusively in positive terms...
In 2010, Alice Cooper and the singer of Tokio Hotel, Bill Kaulitz, took part in the filming of a television commercial for Saturn. Thanks to unexpected, rather humorous gimmicks, fans were satisfied with the work of their idols...
In 2013, while creating the charity album, Vincent managed to work with such stars as Johnny Depp and Joe Perry. The team became very passionate about music and soon released their own album consisting of cover versions of famous rock tracks (including Cooper's own hits)! The trio solemnly dubbed themselves "Hollywood Vampires".
Cinematography
In addition to music, Alice Cooper managed to prove himself in the movies! His first films were "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Orchestra" and "The Sextet".
In the 1990s, the shock-rocker took part in the filming of the cult masterpiece about the homicidal maniac Freddy Krueger, playing the role of his father!
Cooper's truly shocking image also impressed the creators of the series "Supernatural"!
Personal life
As a young rock idol, Alice Cooper was a great success among the ladies! So... no wonder our hero's personal life was full of passion...
Some love stories developed and ended very quickly, while others ended rather tragically (as in the case of Miss Christine, who died of an overdose...).
For some time Cooper lived with Cindy Lang, who, later, almost sued the rock star solid monetary fortune!
However, the only woman with whom Vincent found happiness was a dancer from his show named Cheryl Goddard... The couple married in 1976. However, during the alcoholic binges of the gore-husband, the girl could not stand and filed for divorce. Fortunately, after Cooper's treatment, the couple reunited!
Today the rock musician leads the life of a model family man. He and Cheryl have three children who, like their parents, have devoted themselves to music and acting...
Interesting Facts…
Alice Cooper once shocked the public in his famous interview by saying that his favorite band has always been The Yardbirds!
Cooper has repeatedly admitted to reporters that he is a Christian:
"Drinking alcohol is easy, trashing a hotel room is easy, but being a Christian is a challenge... That is true rebellion!"
As for politics, Alice Cooper prefers not to express his opinion on the subject publicly... He once said:
"Rock and politics are far apart. They even sleep in different rooms!"
Alice Cooper is not only a mature rocker, but also an avid golfer! As it turns out, it was this game that played a key role in his struggle with addiction... Later, the musician will even release his biography titled: "Alice Cooper the Giant of Golf"!
The singer is actively engaged in charity!
Conclusion…
Today Alice Cooper is famous as an iconic figure on the rock scene and far beyond... The artist has more than two dozen gold records and 50 million records sold worldwide! Cooper has his own restaurant business, as well as the author of the show "Nights with Alice Cooper". Definitely a bright personality, worthy of attention to his story...
