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With sensational stage shows (involving fake executions, mock fights, live snakes, overt sexuality and other garish theatricality inspiring lurid headlines to offend the moral majority), Vince Furnier was one of the most controversial rock stars of the 1970s and '80s. His first band were The Spiders, who played around Phoenix, Arizona, before he moved to LA and developed the androgynous, alter-ego of Alice Cooper, which came as a nasty shock to the hippy era. His shock-rock sharply divided opinion, but Cooper's band were signed by Frank Zappa to the Straight Music label, which released his first album 'Pretties for You' in 1969.
Cooper's first hit 'I'm 18' came in 1970 and he reached new heights, outraging the establishment with the international smash 'School's Out' in 1972. Concept album 'Welcome to My Nightmare' followed in 1975 telling the story of a young boy called Steven, featuring narration by horror movie veteran Vincent Price. The album was turned into a stage show and also a TV special and earned Cooper a Grammy nomination for Best Long Form Music Video.
Lifestyle excesses took their toll in the late '70s, but after a stay in rehab for alcohol addiction, Cooper cleaned up his act to come back strong in the early 1990s , and with the release of 'Hey Stupid' in '91, he regained his momentum to record again and found himself collaborating with the likes of Guns N' Roses and appearing in films including 'Nightmare On Elm Street' and 'Wayne's World'. 'The Last Temptation' was Cooper's final album of the '90s, released in 1994, and he began the 21st century with a tour and brand new album 'Brutal Planet'. The sequel 'Dragontown' followed soon after, joined by 'The Eyes of Alice Cooper' and 'Dirty Diamonds', with 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare', the sequel to the 1975 concept album being released in 2010.
In 2012 Cooper starred as himself in the Tim Burton film 'Dark Shadows' and supported Iron Maiden on their English tour. He released an album of covers of songs recorded previously by his friends and colleagues who are no longer alive in 2013 and was the subject of the 'Super Duper Alice Cooper' documentary in 2015.
Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10. All rights reserved
