Alice Cooper (also known as the Alice Cooper Group or the Alice Cooper Band) was an American rock band formed in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
, in 1964. The band consisted of lead singer Vince Furnier (stage name
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
),
Glen Buxton
Glen Edward Buxton (November 10, 1947 – October 19, 1997) was an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper. In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him number 90 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guita ...
(lead guitar),
Michael Bruce (rhythm guitar, keyboards),
Dennis Dunaway
Dennis Dunaway (born December 9, 1946, in Cottage Grove, Oregon) is an American musician, best known as the original bass guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper (1962–1975, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021).
He co-wrote some of the ...
(bass guitar), and
Neal Smith (drums). Furnier legally changed his name to Alice Cooper and has had a solo career under that name since the band became inactive in 1975. The band was notorious for their elaborate, theatrical
shock rock stage shows. In 2011, the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
.
After years of obscurity in the 1960s, the Alice Cooper band rose to fame in 1971 with the
hit single "
I'm Eighteen
"I'm Eighteen" is a song by rock band Alice Cooper, first released as a single in November 1970 backed with "Is It My Body". It was the band's first top-forty success—peaking at number 21—and convinced Warner Bros. that Alice Cooper had the c ...
" and the album ''
Love It to Death''. Success continued with the popular single "
School's Out" and the
album of the same name in 1972. The band peaked in popularity in 1973 with their next album ''
Billion Dollar Babies
''Billion Dollar Babies'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on February 25, 1973, by Warner Bros. Records. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number one on t ...
'' and its tour, which broke box-office records previously held by
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
.
History
Formative years: The Spiders
In 1964, 16-year-old Furnier, then a student at Cortez High School, was eager to participate in the local annual
Letterman's talent show, so he gathered four teammates from his high school's
cross-country team to form a group for the show:
Glen Buxton
Glen Edward Buxton (November 10, 1947 – October 19, 1997) was an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper. In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him number 90 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guita ...
,
Dennis Dunaway
Dennis Dunaway (born December 9, 1946, in Cottage Grove, Oregon) is an American musician, best known as the original bass guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper (1962–1975, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021).
He co-wrote some of the ...
, John Tatum and John Speer. They named themselves the Earwigs.
[Harkima, Reginald, Scott McFayden and Sam Dunn, dir. Super Duper Alice Cooper. Banger Films, 2014. DVD.] They dressed up in costumes and wigs to resemble
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, and performed several parodies of Beatles songs, with the lyrics modified to refer to the track team: in their rendition of "
Please Please Me
''Please Please Me'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom, following the success of the band's first two s ...
", for example, the line "Last night I said these words to my girl" was replaced with "Last night I ran four laps for my coach". Of the group, only Buxton and Tatum knew how to play an instrument—the guitar—so Buxton and Tatum played guitars while the rest mimed on their instruments.
The group got an overwhelming response from the audience and won the talent show. As a result of their positive experience, the group decided to try to turn into a real band. They acquired musical instruments from a local
pawn shop
A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...
, and proceeded to learn how to play them, with Buxton doing most of the teaching, as well as much of the early songwriting.
They soon renamed themselves the Spiders, featuring Furnier on vocals, Buxton on lead guitar, Tatum on rhythm guitar, Dunaway on bass guitar, and Speer on drums.
Musically, the group was inspired by artists such as the Beatles,
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
,
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
,
the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...
,
the Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...
, and
the Yardbirds
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
. For the next year the band performed regularly around the Phoenix area with a huge black spider's web as their backdrop, the group's first stage prop.
In 1965, the Spiders recorded their first single, "Why Don't You Love Me". The single's B-side track was the
Marvin Gaye Tamla Records
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
hit, "
Hitch Hike
Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free.
Nomads hav ...
". The single was released by local record label, Mascot Records, owned by Jack Curtis, a concert promoter who also owned the Stage 7 teen club which later became the VIP Club where the Spiders were the house band. At the VIP Club the band supported other bands including –
the Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including ...
, the Yardbirds,
Them
Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to:
Books
* ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet''
* '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...
,
the Animals
The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...
, the Kinks and
the Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
.
In 1966, the Spiders graduated from high school and after
North High School footballer
Michael Bruce replaced John Tatum on rhythm guitar, the band released their second single, "Don't Blow Your Mind", an original composition which became a local #1 hit, backed by "No Price Tag". The single was recorded at Copper State Recording Studio and issued by local micro-imprint, Santa Cruz Records.
By 1967, the band had begun to make regular road trips to Los Angeles to play shows. They soon renamed themselves Nazz and released the single "Wonder Who's Lovin' Her Now", backed with future Alice Cooper track "Lay Down and Die, Goodbye". Around this time, drummer John Speer was replaced by
Neal Smith. By the end of the year, the band had relocated to Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, the band's lifestyle involved regular car trips into the desert. Activities included shooting rabbits with a 0.22 rifle. In 1967, Neal Smith moved into the range of Furnier's rifle as the latter was about to fire. Smith was hit in the ankle. He has the fragment in his ankle to this day. Around this time, the band and three others were driving in Los Angeles in a van. An incident on the road caused the driver to lose control of the van and it went off the road rolling over four times. The van was destroyed, but all band members and the three other passengers survived without serious injury.
New band name: Alice Cooper
In 1968, the band learned that
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...
also had a band called
Nazz
The Nazz was an American rock band formed in Philadelphia in 1967. The group was founded by guitarist and principal songwriter Todd Rundgren and bassist Carson Van Osten. Drummer Thom Mooney and vocalist/keyboardist Robert "Stewkey" Antoni joi ...
, and found themselves in need of another stage name. Furnier also believed that the group needed a
gimmick to succeed, and that other bands were not exploiting the showmanship potential of the stage.
The legend is that the name "Alice Cooper" came from a session with a
Ouija board
The ouija ( , ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and grap ...
, largely chosen because it sounded innocuous and wholesome, in humorous contrast to the band's image and music. However, in an interview with
Mark Radcliffe on the
Radcliffe and Maconie show on
BBC Radio 2 on November 30, 2009, Vince Furnier described the incident with the ouija board as an
urban legend
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
. He said "We literally got that whole story about the witch thing the way you guys got it. It was like just pure urban legend. I heard about the witch thing probably the same day you did, but it was a great story."
["]The Radcliffe and Maconie Show
''Radcliffe & Maconie'' is a weekend radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music in the United Kingdom and via the internet. It runs from 8-10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and is presented by Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie. The show origin ...
." Guest Alice Cooper. BBC Radio 2
Episode 30 November 2009
Eventually Furnier adopted this stage name as his own, being referred to as Alice Cooper on the cover of the band's debut album from 1969 already. He recalled:
The singer considers the name change one of his most important and successful career moves.
The classic Alice Cooper group
line-up consisted of Furnier, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, rhythm guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith – all former members of the Spiders. This lineup stayed intact through 1974.
The band's first gig that used the name Alice Cooper was on March 16, 1968, at Earl Warren Fairgrounds in Santa Barbara. The posters still showed the band as the Nazz. After a 1968 gig at the Cheetah club in
Venice, California
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...
, where most of the club's patrons left after hearing the band play just ten minutes, they were approached by
music manager
A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day ...
Shep Gordon
Shep E. Gordon (born October 18, 1945) is an American talent manager, Hollywood film agent, and producer. Gordon is featured in a 2013 documentary, '' Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon'', which was directed by Mike Myers.
Life and educati ...
, who saw the band's negative impact that night as a force that could be turned in a more productive direction.
[''Super Duper Alice Cooper.'' Dir. Reginald Harkima, Scott McFayden, and Sam Dunn. Banger Films in association with Eagle Rock Entertainment, the Movie Network, and Movie Central. 2014 – documentary] Shep arranged an audition for the band with renowned musical artist and record producer
Frank Zappa, who was looking to sign bizarre music acts to his new record label,
Straight Records. Zappa told them to come to his house "at 7 o'clock" for an audition. The band mistakenly assumed he meant 7 o'clock in the morning. Being woken up by a band willing to play that particular brand of music at seven in the morning impressed Zappa enough for him to sign them to a three-album deal.
"Frank was the only one who stuck out his neck for us, for me," recalled Furnier himself. "He was the one who said, 'Here's a band that everybody in the business is laughing at – I like 'em.' … He was the outcast in
L.A.
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
and so were we." The first three Alice Cooper albums were released on Zappa's Straight label.
Another Zappa-signed act, the all-female
GTOs, were encouraged to dress up the Alice Cooper band members in women's clothing and heavy makeup, and played a major role in developing the band's early onstage look.
In June 1969, Alice Cooper released its first album, ''
Pretties for You
''Pretties for You'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on June 25, 1969, by Straight Records. At this time, the name "Alice Cooper" referred to the band and not its lead singer Vincent Furnier. The album has a ...
'', which barely cracked the ''
Billboard'' Top 200 albums chart at No. 193. The band was the subject of media criticism after Furnier threw a live chicken into the audience during the 1969
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
Rock 'n' Roll Revival Festival. The audience ripped the chicken, whose name was Dutchess, to shreds.
[Howell, Peter. "Toronto 'chicken incident' sparked rage". ''Toronto Star'', April 24, 2014.]
In March 1970, the band released the album ''
Easy Action'', which did not chart. Also in 1970, the band had two songs ("Titanic Overture" and "Refrigerator Heaven") that appeared on a Warner Bros sampler album, ''Zapped'', featuring acts produced by Zappa.
Finding success
Slow sales of the band's first two albums, as well as Californians' indifference to their act, led the band to relocate again in 1970, this time to
Pontiac, Michigan near Furnier's original home town of
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
. Here, their bizarre stage act was much better received by
Midwestern crowds accustomed to the
proto punk
Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated w ...
styles of local bands such as
the Stooges
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...
and
the MC5
MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...
. "L.A. just didn't get it," Furnier stated. "They were all on the wrong drug for us. They were on acid and we were basically drinking beer. We fit much more in Detroit than we did anywhere else."
Hooking up with young producer
Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's car ...
, Alice Cooper released the single "I'm Eighteen" in November 1970, and it became a surprise Top 40 hit by early 1971. The single's success convinced Warner Bros that the band could be a viable commercial act, leading to much stronger investment in the third Alice Cooper album, ''
Love It to Death''. The album was initially released on Straight Records, but was reissued on the Warner label following its buyout of the imprint from Zappa, giving Alice Cooper even greater exposure. Under Ezrin's direction, the band's sound moved from psychedelic rock to a tighter, guitar-driven
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
sound, even as much of the lyrical content continued to explore "decadence, perversion and psychosis."
In 1971 the band was doing its first headliner tour. Backstage at a gig in Florida, a young woman came in with a Boa Constrictor coiled around her arm. This gave Furnier a fright, and after experiencing this kind of reaction, the idea of using a snake in the stage performance began. With ''Love It to Death'' and its follow-up album ''
Killer
A killer is someone or something that kills, such as a murderer or a serial killer.
Killer may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Killer (''Home and Away''), a character from ''Home and Away''
* Killer Kane, ...
'' both charting well, the band was able to afford a more elaborate stage show, including sophisticated props and elements of gothic horror, and they became a highly popular concert attraction in the US and UK over the next few years. Calls by members of British Parliament in 1972 to have the group banned from performing in the UK only solidified the band's legend, and the next year's ''
Billion Dollar Babies
''Billion Dollar Babies'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on February 25, 1973, by Warner Bros. Records. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number one on t ...
'' tour broke box office records. Cindy Dunaway (Neal Smith's sister who married Dennis Dunaway) designed the band's costumes and occasionally performed in the stage show (she was the "dancing tooth" on the ''Billion Dollar Babies'' tour).
A 1973 gig in São Paulo, Brazil, was performed in front of 158,000 people. The Guinness Book of World Records gave the band the world record for playing in front of the biggest indoor audience ever.
Following ''Killer'', Alice Cooper released three more top ten albums, the pinnacle being 1973's ''Billion Dollar Babies'' which rose all the way to No. 1 on the US and UK album charts. The band headlined highly successful tours from 1972 to 1974, before breaking up. The band made so much money in 1973 and 1974 that Furnier appeared on the cover of ''Forbes'' Magazine in 1973. The article listed him among the highest-earning American "music superstars": "Lounging in a $160-a-day Beverly Hills Hotel suite, Alice Cooper, who's a he, ..."
Breakup of the original band
The original Alice Cooper band played their final show on April 8, 1974, in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. There are varying reasons former band members have given for the breakup. Smith said the members wanted to take a year off to slow down and possibly do solo projects, and just never reunited. Cooper said there was disagreement over how much money to sink back into stage shows, which had become costly. Bruce contends that Buxton's issues with substance abuse, which at one time led him to pull a switchblade on the band's tour manager, likely hastened the breakup.
The breakup was made public in 1975. Vincent Furnier continued using his stage name "Alice Cooper", carrying on with a new group of musicians. He also adopted the name legally.
Bruce, Dunaway and Smith would go on to form the short-lived band Billion Dollar Babies, producing one album – ''Battle Axe'' – in 1977. While occasionally performing with one another and
Glen Buxton
Glen Edward Buxton (November 10, 1947 – October 19, 1997) was an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper. In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him number 90 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guita ...
, they would not reunite with Alice until October 23, 1999, at the second Glen Buxton Memorial Weekend for a show at CoopersTown in Phoenix (Buxton having died in 1997). They reunited for another show, with
Steve Hunter on guitar, on December 16, 2010, at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix. This lineup would perform together again (televised) on March 14, 2011, at the induction of the original Alice Cooper group into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
, as well as on May 11, 2011, at London's
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...
at the
Jägermeister
( , ; stylized Jägermeiſter) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation ...
Ice Cold 4D event (webcast). Bruce, Dunaway and Smith appeared on three tracks they co-wrote on Alice's 2011 album ''
Welcome 2 My Nightmare
''Welcome 2 My Nightmare'' (also known as ''Welcome to My Nightmare 2'') is the nineteenth solo album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in September 2011. Peaking at No. 22 in the ''Billboard'' 200 it is Cooper's highest-charting al ...
''.
A documentary about the band entitled ''
Super Duper Alice Cooper'' premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...
on April 17, 2014, and was scheduled to be screened at the
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival a week later.
On October 6, 2015, a surprise reunion show took place in Dallas at Dunaway's book signing session. He was joined by Bruce, Smith, Cooper and
Ryan Roxie
Ryan Roxie (born Ryan Rosowicz, December 1, 1965) is an American guitarist, singer/songwriter best known as a solo artist and for playing guitar with Alice Cooper, Casablanca, Gilby Clarke, and Slash's Snakepit. Roxie is the primary founder o ...
, who replaced the late Glen Buxton. The surviving members of the band were set to record and release an album. However, the only material to surface was two bonus tracks on Cooper's 27th studio album
Paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
.
The four surviving original members reunited again for a five-song set on May 14, 2017, at a show in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
. The four reunited yet again later that same year for a UK tour.
In 2021, the surviving members of the band reunited for Cooper's ''
Detroit Stories
''Detroit Stories'' is the twenty-first solo and twenty-eighth overall studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper. The album was released on February 26, 2021, by earMUSIC. It crowned Billboard's Top Album Sales chart (dated March 3, 20 ...
'' album. Producer
Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's car ...
as well as Cooper himself have hinted that a new album with the surviving members may be possible.
Band members
![Alice Cooper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Alice_Cooper.jpg)
Original band members
*
Vincent Furnier
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
a.k.a. Alice Cooper – vocals, harmonica
*
Glen Buxton
Glen Edward Buxton (November 10, 1947 – October 19, 1997) was an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper. In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him number 90 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guita ...
– lead guitar (died 1997)
*
Michael Bruce – rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals
*
Dennis Dunaway
Dennis Dunaway (born December 9, 1946, in Cottage Grove, Oregon) is an American musician, best known as the original bass guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper (1962–1975, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021).
He co-wrote some of the ...
– bass and backing vocals
*
Neal Smith – drums and backing vocals
Additional members 1973–1974
*
Mick Mashbir
Mick Mashbir is a guitarist who played on Alice Cooper's ''Billion Dollar Babies'' and ''Muscle of Love'' albums. In 1978, he toured with Flo & Eddie of Frank Zappa's band. In 1985, he played with The Turtles
''The'' () is a grammatical ar ...
– guitar
* Bob Dolin – keyboards
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Pretties for You
''Pretties for You'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on June 25, 1969, by Straight Records. At this time, the name "Alice Cooper" referred to the band and not its lead singer Vincent Furnier. The album has a ...
'' (1969)
* ''
Easy Action'' (1970)
* ''
Love It to Death'' (1971)
* ''
Killer
A killer is someone or something that kills, such as a murderer or a serial killer.
Killer may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Killer (''Home and Away''), a character from ''Home and Away''
* Killer Kane, ...
'' (1971)
* ''
School's Out'' (1972)
* ''
Billion Dollar Babies
''Billion Dollar Babies'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on February 25, 1973, by Warner Bros. Records. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number one on t ...
'' (1973)
* ''
Muscle of Love
''Muscle of Love'' is the seventh and final studio album by rock band Alice Cooper. It was released in late 1973, the band played its last concert a few months later.
Background
Cooper stated in an interview at the time of recording that the albu ...
'' (1973)
Compilations
* ''
School Days: The Early Recordings'' (1973)
* ''
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'' (1974)
References
External links
National Newswire: Alice Cooper Group to perform at Hall of Fame induction Ceremonies*
{{Authority control
Alice Cooper
American glam rock musical groups
American hard rock musical groups
Bands with fictional stage personas
Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona
Musical groups established in 1964
Musical groups disestablished in 1975
Musical groups from Detroit
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona
Musical quintets
Warner Records artists
1964 establishments in Arizona