Global InformationAlice Cooper information
Alice Cooper | |
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 Cooper in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Vincent Damon Furnier |
| Born | February 4, 1948 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Origin | Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Genres |
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| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 1964–present |
| Labels |
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| Member of |
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| Spouse(s) |
Sheryl Goddard (m. 1976) |
| Website | alicecooper |
| Children | 3, including Calico Cooper |
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier; February 4, 1948)[1] is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, reptiles, baby dolls, and dueling swords,[2] Cooper is considered by many music journalists and peers to be "The Godfather of Shock Rock".[3] He has drawn equally from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a macabre and theatrical brand of rock designed to shock audiences.[4]
Originating in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1964, "Alice Cooper" was originally a band with roots extending back to a band called the Earwigs, consisting of Furnier on lead vocals and harmonica, Glen Buxton on lead guitar, and Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar and backing vocals. By 1966, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar joined the three and Neal Smith was added on drums in 1967. The five named the band "Alice Cooper", and Furnier eventually adopted it as his stage pseudonym.[5][6] They released their debut studio album Pretties for You in 1969 with limited chart success. Breaking out with the 1970 single "I'm Eighteen" and the third studio album Love It to Death,[7] the band reached their commercial peak in 1973 with their sixth studio album, Billion Dollar Babies.[8] After[citation needed] the band broke up, Furnier legally changed his name to Alice Cooper and began a solo career in 1975 with the concept album Welcome to My Nightmare. Over his career, Cooper has sold well over 50 million records.[9]
Cooper has experimented with a number of musical styles, mainly hard rock, glam rock, heavy metal, and glam metal,[10][11] but also new wave (1980–1983),[12] art rock on DaDa (1983), and industrial rock on Brutal Planet (2000) and Dragontown (2001).[13] He helped 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".[14] He is also known for his wit offstage, with The Rolling Stone Album Guide calling him the world's most "beloved heavy metal entertainer".[15] Aside from music, Cooper is a film actor, a golfing celebrity, a restaurateur, and, since 2004, a radio disc jockey (DJ) with his classic rock show Alice's Attic.
- ^ "Alice Cooper Biography". NME. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
- ^ Knopper, Steve (May 24, 2014). "How concerts shifted from songs to spectacles". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ Loud, All Things (October 3, 2019). "Alice Cooper is Still the Godfather of Shock Rock". All Things Loud. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "All Music: Alice Cooper". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 10, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- ^ "'…the singer's name was Alice'". Shreveport Times. May 8, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
- ^ "Alice Cooper – Pretties For You". Discogs. 1969. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
The cover says: "ALICE COOPER: vocals and harmonica"
- ^ Mendelsohn, John (April 15, 1971). "Love It To Death". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
- ^ Konow, David (2002). Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal. Crown. p. 41. ISBN 0-609-80732-3. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ "Alice Cooper - Biography of Alice Cooper". outsider.com. January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. pp. 11, 171. ISBN 978-0-76034-546-7.
- ^ McPadden, Mike (September 23, 2015). "The Hair Metal 100: Ranking the '80s Greatest Glam Bands, Part 3". VH1 Viacom. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Fireside. p. 12. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
- ^ Rolli, Bryan (September 29, 2022). "Alice Cooper Got Heavy and Horrific on 'Raise Your Fist and Yell'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ Guy Blackman (July 2, 2007). "Gig reviews: Alice Cooper". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2008.
- ^ The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Fireside. 2004. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.