Latest news with #BillionDollarBabies
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Alice Cooper says he thrives on proving people wrong: ‘I am defiant about this'
Alice Cooper has admitted that he didn't think he'd live to see past the age of 30, but is now determined to keep going for as long as possible. The shock rocker recently announced that the Alice Cooper Band's original lineup would reunite for the first time in over 50 years to release a new album, The Revenge of Alice Cooper, which will feature work by late guitarist Glen Buxton. Scheduled for release on 25 July, the record was produced by Bob Ezrin, who worked with the band on some of their classic Seventies albums including Love It To Death, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies. 'I am still touring full blast at the age of 77 like I always have,' Cooper said in an interview with The Times. 'Although none of us thought [in the beginning] that we would even get past 30 years of age. 'But I haven't had a drink in 42 years, I'm not taking any drugs, I never smoked cigarettes and a lot of this has to do with being happily married for 50 years and having a great family where everybody has married the right people.' Joining him on the album are original members Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass), Neil Smith (drums), and Gyasi Hues (guitar), with contributions from Buxton, who died in 1997, on the song 'What Happened to You' and a remix of 'Return of the Spiders' from their 1971 album Easy Action. As he prepares to embark on a series of shows this year, including at London's O2 Arena and the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Cooper explained that he thrives on proving people wrong. 'Everybody asks what keeps you going and everybody expects at 77 for Alice to get up there and phone it in because he's not able to move around very much,' he said. 'And hey, Mick Jagger is four years older than me and he is still killing it up there. I am defiant about this: I want Alice to get up there and when they get in I want them to say, 'Are you kidding me? He can't be 77'. 'That is what drives me forward. If I can't play Alice the same way I played Alice 40 years ago I shouldn't be up there. But I don't think Alice Cooper is done having his day yet.' 'None of them has changed much as a person,' Ezrin told Billboard of his experience recording the band's new music. 'Obviously everyone's older and more mature and more settled, but when we all get together and I watch the interplay between them, it's like they just walked out of high school and were hanging out in the local cafe. 'They just revert to type. They revert to who they were as kids when they first got together… and make music together like they did 50-some years ago.'
Forbes
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Alice Cooper: ‘You Can't Set German Shepherds On Fire On Stage Tonite'
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 16: Alice Cooper performs during Fire Fight Australia at ANZ Stadium on February 16, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by) Alice Cooper at 77 is still selling out shows. His brand of theatrical hard rock still rocks the house. Cooper has always surrounded himself with blue-chip musicians to support his stage antics, his extended world tour is no exception. Cooper also has a new addition to his "Alice's Attic" radio show market: 95-5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles, one of the premier stations in the U.S. It's in collaboration with Superadio, which syndicates 'Alice's Attic' as well as several other radio programs. Introduced early last year, 'Alice's Attic' plays on 73 local radio stations throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. We had the rare chance to chat with Cooper this week about all things Alice. Following are edited excerpts from a much longer conversation. (This is Part 1 of of a series.) Jim Clash: Let's first talk about your radio show 'Alice's Attic,' syndicated by Superadio. It sounds like an eclectic program format. Alice Cooper: On radio, you can still make an audience imagine what's going on, like old radio did with comedy, drama. They made you picture it. The whole idea with "Alice's Attic" is the characters in it. You're coming up to Alice's attic, right? And sure, he's going to play all kinds of music for you, but what else is up there? Different characters who bring to life stories. Clash: You were on the cover of Forbes way back in 1973. What did that mean to you personally, and did it help bolster your then-budding career? Cooper: Before that when I'd get on an airplane and sit next to a business guy, I could tell he was like, "Oh brother." After that cover, the guys would say, "Sit no, sit here," because that magazine is their bible. There'd be whispers, "That's the guy on the cover of Forbes, we've got to know what he's doing." It was just funny to me. We wrote the album, "Billion Dollar Babies," making fun of ourselves. We went from living in two rooms at the Motel 6 to being at the Hotel Crillon overnight [laughs]. American singer Alice Cooper (left) performing on stage at the Rainbow Theatre, London, 7th November 1971. (Photo by) Clash: So, in a sense, you were suddenly validated? Cooper: In this business if you have a hit record, that's the Willy Wonka golden ticket, because everybody now has to pay attention, all of the record companies. If you have a second hit, now you're a trend. All of a sudden Alice Cooper had five or six hits in a row, "School's Out [For The Summer], "No More Mr. Nice Guy' and so on. It made everybody turn their heads and go, "We need you to be listening to these guys." Clash: Do you remember the first time you heard one of your songs on the radio? Cooper: I'll tell you what - it was so crazy. We were living in Detroit. CKLW is the biggest station in the midwest at the time. If you had a record on that, you were up against the [Rolling] Stones, The Beatles, Simon And Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, even Frank Sinatra. We're driving along and all of a sudden we hear, "I'm 18,' which did not sound like anything else on the radio. It was very punk, but the lyrics [resonated] - "I'm 18 and I LIKE it." Every kid in the world went, "Yeah, that's me." Rosalie Trombley, who ran the station, loved the record. They told her not to put it on, that it didn't fit. She put it on anyway, and it was a big hit. We owe Rosalie a lot. Anyway, we pulled the car over and were stunned. We're sitting there saying, "Are you kidding me?" We had no idea that anybody would ever play that record. Clash: I know you've addressed this many times, but what's the deal with you and the chicken someone threw on stage? I've heard so many versions. Did the attention help or hurt you? NAPA, CALIFORNIA - MAY 26: Andrew Zimmern (L) and Alice Cooper attend a Guiness world record event for chicken tossing during BottleRock Napa Valley 2019 at Napa Valley Expo on May 26, 2019 in Napa, California. (Photo by) Cooper: It solidified what I was thinking at the time. When I was up on stage and threw that chicken back at the audience, they tore it apart. The next day in the papers it's, "Alice Cooper tears chicken to pieces." I immediately became the villain of rock. Frank Zappa called and said, "Did you kill a chicken on stage last night?" I said, "No." He said, "Don't tell anybody [you didn't] because they all love it." That was the nucleus of Alice Cooper right there. There were too many Peter Pans, and they needed a Captain Hook. So we just kept making Alice Cooper the villain of rock. But we really didn't have to do much because people were making up their own stories. We'd get to a town and they'd say, "You can't set any German Shepherds on fire on stage," and we'd go, 'What?" Every story got crazier. We just didn't deny them. If you're going to have that kind of reputation, run with it. Getting banned in London was the best thing that ever happened to us. They told the audience they couldn't have us, and the audience said, "We've got to see that."
