Alice Cooper
Overview
Alice Cooper is an American rock
singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotine
s, electric chair
s, fake blood, boa constrictor
s and baby dolls
, Cooper has drawn equally from horror movies, vaudeville and garage rock
to pioneer a grandly theatrical and violent brand of heavy metal
designed to shock
.
Alice Cooper was originally a band consisting of Furnier on vocals and harmonica, lead guitarist Glen Buxton
, Michael Bruce
on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway
on bass guitar and drummer Neal Smith.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
s, electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
s, fake blood, boa constrictor
Boa constrictor
The Boa constrictor is a large, heavy-bodied species of snake. It is a member of the family Boidae found in North, Central, and South America, as well as some islands in the Caribbean. A staple of private collections and public displays, its color pattern is highly variable yet distinctive...
s and baby dolls
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
, Cooper has drawn equally from horror movies, vaudeville and garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
to pioneer a grandly theatrical and violent brand of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
designed to shock
Shock rock
Shock rock is an umbrella term for artists who combine rock music with elements of theatrical shock value in live performances.-History:Screamin' Jay Hawkins was arguably the first shock rocker...
.
Alice Cooper was originally a band consisting of Furnier on vocals and harmonica, lead guitarist Glen Buxton
Glen Buxton
Glen Edward Buxton was an American musician, and guitarist for the original Alice Cooper band. He was born in Akron, Ohio....
, Michael Bruce
Michael Owen Bruce
Michael Bruce is a US rock musician. He was a guitarist, keyboard player and backing vocalist for the original Alice Cooper group .Bruce co-wrote many of the hit songs with some or all of the other members of the band...
on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway
Dennis Dunaway
Dennis Dunaway was the bass guitarist for The Spiders , The Earwigs , Alice Cooper group from 1969–1974.He co-wrote such hits as "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out"....
on bass guitar and drummer Neal Smith.
Quotations
Nobody and nothing beats The Simpsons. Even after all this time, it's still the best satire since Monty Python's Flying Circus|Monty Python.
Interview with Nick Harper in The Guardian (28 November 2003)
I haven't had an alcoholic drink in 22 years, but when I did drink I'd go for either Canadian whisky or Budweiser. Sometimes both. For a long time I used to think "Hey you, get off the floor!" was my name.
Interview with Nick Harper in The Guardian (28 November 2003)
He has a woman's name and wears makeup. How original.
On Marilyn Manson, as quoted in Celebrity Diss and Tell : Stars Talk About Each Other (2005) by Boze Hadleigh
From the moment I leave my house or my hotel room, the public owns me. The public made Alice Cooper and I can't imagine ever turning my back on my fans.
As quoted in Philadelphia Daily News (3 March 2006)