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Alice Cooper: A Rock and Roll Legend

Updated on November 12, 2014

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is a band that started in Detroit, Michigan in the late 1960s. Vincent Damon Furnier started with a group of friends to enter a talent show. They won the talent show and enjoyed being on stage. Furnier formed a group called "The Earwigs" with a group of his friends. They learned how to play musical instruments that they bought at pawn shops. Later, the name of the group changed to "The Spiders", with Furnier on vocals, and then to "The Nazz." At the time, there was another group already called, "The Nazz", so the group had to find another name for their band. The name, "Alice Cooper" supposedly came out of a session with a Ouija board, which spelled out the name. Alice Cooper is supposedly the name of a girl that lived in the 17th Century, who had been accused of witchcraft during the time of the witch-hunts in Salem, Massachusetts. Furnier didn't know about this girl (Alice Cooper) at the time. The name, "Alice Cooper" sounded sweet, innocent, and contrasted sharply with the stage show, which was meant to be quite shocking to its audiences.

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper in 2011
Alice Cooper in 2011 | Source

Vincent Damon Furnier

Vincent Damon Furnier was the lead singer of the "Alice Cooper" band, and Vincent is his birth and real name. Vincent Furnier was born February 4, 1948 to Ella Mae and Ether Marconi Furnier. His father was a lay preacher. Vincent suffered from many childhood illnesses, so the family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. He attended Junior High and High school in Phoenix, Arizona.

Vincent Damon Furnier is a rock singer, musician, a songwriter,a film actor, a golfing celebrity, a restaurateur, and a popular radio DJ. Furnier, also, ran for governor of Arizona in 1988. He has, also, helped fellow rock and rollers to cut down on their drug use. Alice Cooper appeared in "Wayne's World", in which Wayne and Garth go backstage to meet him, and upon seeing him they say their most famous words: "We're not worthy."

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper Talks About His Tour
Alice Cooper Talks About His Tour | Source

Alice Cooper (The Band)

The Alice Cooper band stage show was designed to shock with the use of guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors, and baby dolls. There was an incident, in which, a live chicken was thrown into the audience and the audience tore the chicken to threads. Someone from the audience threw a live chicken onto the stage, so Alice Cooper picked it up and threw it into the air, thinking that it would fly away. Instead, it landed back into the audience, and the chicken had been promptly torn to pieces. The tabloids (American) picked it up and blew it all out of proportion. They had that Alice Cooper, was the rocker, who had killed the chicken and drank its blood. They had blown the incident way out of proportion. The "Alice Cooper" band went mainstream internationally in 1971 with the hit, "I'm Eighteen", from the album "Love it to Death." "Schools Out' became a bigger hit in 1972. Alice Cooper was a stark contrast to the hippies of the 60s and 70s. The hippie bands, who attended a festival in August 1970, wore beards and denim. Alice Cooper was the first artist to introduce horror imagery into rock and roll.

The Alice Cooper Band

The Group, "Alice Cooper." Copr 1973 (WB).
The Group, "Alice Cooper." Copr 1973 (WB). | Source

The Members of the Alice Cooper Band

The members of the band, "Alice Cooper" from 1968 to 1972 are:

  1. Vincent Furnier/Alice Cooper (vocals, harmonica).
  2. Glen Buxton (lead guitar).
  3. Michael Bruce (rhythm guitar, keyboards).
  4. Dennis Dunaway (bass).
  5. Neal Smith (drums)

Band members in 1973 to 1974 included the above and Mick Mashbir (guitar), Bob Dolin (keyboards), many, many more band members up to the present, too numerous to mention here.

Alice Cooper: Vincent Damon Furnier

The lead singer of Alice Cooper decided to embark on a solo career, so he adopted the band's name as his own name. So, Alice Cooper (Vincent Damon Furnier) first solo album was, "Welcome to My Nightmare", which was released in 1975. "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" was released in 2011. Alice Cooper's website is: www.alicecooper.com. Alice (Vincent) is known for his social and witty persona off stage. He has helped shape the look and sound of heavy metal, and is the first to introduce horror imagery to rock and roll. In 2004, Alice Cooper became a popular radio DJ with his classic rock show called: "Nights with Alice Cooper." In 2011, the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Alice Cooper married his girlfriend, Sheryl Goddard in 1976, and they have three children together. Alice Cooper was known to have spurned the advances of Raquel Welch, who was most notably known for playing the cave-woman in "1 Million B.C. Alice felt devoted to his girlfriend, Sheryl, who was a dancer on his tour.

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