WORDS OF WISDOM
Best advice I was given
When I started my first
band my mom said,
“If you’re gonna do this,
don’t ever give up”Advice I’d give
If you want to make it
in rock’n’roll, sort out
your prioritiesWhat I wish I’d known
That most successful rock
bands would stop drinking
and taking drugs in the
future. In 1972, when I had
my first hit, School’s Out,
things were very differentJENNY RISHERC
ooper was born Vincent
Damon Furnier in
Detroit. He formed his
first band, the Earwigs,
aged 17 before renaming
the band Alice Cooper
and being signed by Frank
Zappa in 1969. After some
success, including the UK
No 1 single School’s Out, the
band split in 1975. Furnier
legally changed his name to
Alice Cooper and went on
to sell more than 50 million
albums. He lives in Phoenix,
Arizona, with his wife of
45 years, Sheryl.I’m up before the sun; 5am is
my time. Straight out of bed,
make a cup of coffee, grab my
Bible, then spend the next hour
reading and praying. I read a
couple of chapters a day — this
is my 12th reading. It puts me in
a positive frame of mind.
Next job is making breakfast,
which is my main meal of the
day. Back in school I was a
middle-distance runner and we
never used to eat straight before
a race. I’ve kept the same
philosophy. Stock up on calories
early, then you’ve got the entire
day to burn them off. I’m a full
English kind of guy: bacon, eggs,
sausages, the whole kaboodle.
I play golf six days a week, but
I could easily play every day of
the year if I wanted. Eighteen
holes is a lot of miles to cover
and it’s the main reason I’m still
in pretty good shape at 74. That
and finally quitting alcohol.
Thanks to Sheryl — she
committed me to an asylum
for treatment — this is my 39th
year sober. I was never a mean
drunk. I was the Dean Martin of
rock’n’roll, always on this happy,
golden buzz. At first it was fun,
hanging out with Jim Morrison,Keith Moon and Jimi Hendrix.
Jimi gave me my first joint. We
thought we were gonna live for
ever, but then everybody started
dying. I spent a lot of time with
Jim Morrison and I don’t think
I ever saw him not drunk or high.
On stage he was an absolute
professional, but nobody was
surprised when he died.
My mom is 97 and comes to
stay a lot. Doesn’t matter that
I’m 74; she still treats me like
that snotty-nosed kid who
needed his diaper changing.
“Why don’t you take the garbage
out? Why don’t you get that door
fixed? You need new curtains.”
Everybody expects Alice
Cooper’s house to be like
Dracula’s castle meets the
Chamber of Horrors, but it isn’t.The only room you might want
to avoid is the studio. That’s
where I store all the trinkets:
full-sized clown dummies,
creepy old dolls, a few axes. The
rest of the house is spotless, but
Sheryl will not clean in there.
She says she can hear stuff...
voices and screams. I enjoy
recording in there, but I
wouldn’t want to spend a night
in the studio on my own.
Lunch is pretty light, maybe a
salad. Although if we’ve got the
family coming round, I’ll be out
in the back garden cooking up
steaks. We’ve got three children
— two daughters, Calico and
Sonora, and our son, Dash —
but they’re all grown up now,
and we’ve got four grandkids.
Being a dad changed
everything for me. It gave me a
reason to stay sober. On stage
I was Alice but, after the show,
I wanted to be Dad. That life was
better than a life in the bottle.
Sheryl is also part of my
touring show — she plays
various characters like the Dead
Bride and Madame Guillotine
— so we’re hardly ever apart.
I love how calm she is amid all
the mayhem on stage. People
are getting beheaded and
everyone is splattered with
blood, but I sometimes look
at her face and I know she’s
wondering if she left the iron
on in the dressing room.
A lot of our evenings are
spent working with a charity
called Solid Rock. We’ve set
up places where any teenager
can come in and learn any
instrument for free. Music
changed my life; hopefully, we
can change a few more.
If we’re at home we’ll watch
a horror movie, but I’m rarely in
bed later than 11. Then I pray for
a while. I believe in heaven and
hell. People think of the Devil
with horns and a pointy tail.
Man, you are so far off the mark!
The Devil is going to be the
best-looking, smoothest-talking
guy in the room. He’s going
to make you feel like a million
bucks. But you better watch
out because he’s got a whole
different set of plans for you n
Interview by Danny Scott.
Alice Cooper and the Cult
co-headline a UK arena tour
from May 23A LIFE IN THE DAY
Alice Cooper
The grandaddy of shock rock, 74
58 • The Sunday Times Magazine*