At 74, Alice Cooper continues to offer up hard rock with a theatrical twist
At 74, veteran rocker Alice Cooper continues to tour and will be at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh Sunday.
Alice Cooper pays tribute to his hometown on his latest album, "Detroit Stories."
Courtesy of Atom Splitter PR
A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Alice Cooper has influenced generations of hard rock and heavy metal musicians.
Here无毛视频檚 a heads-up: If you无毛视频檙e walking around a mall and you see a guy in sunglasses and a baseball cap who looks like Alice Cooper, it might very well be Alice Cooper.
And if you want an autograph, don无毛视频檛 hesitate to ask.
无毛视频淚 sign everything,无毛视频� Cooper said on the phone from Palm Springs, Calif., last month. 无毛视频淚 look at it as a compliment. The day they don无毛视频檛 want your autograph, the day they don无毛视频檛 want your picture is when you无毛视频檙e in trouble.无毛视频�
Strolling around a shopping center with your wife of 46 years and getting in nine holes of golf after breakfast are all pretty standard activities for a 74-year-old man, but Cooper will never be confused with your run-of-the-mill septuagenarian. The man born Vincent Damon Furnier is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, has sold an estimated 50 million records in a career that spans more than 50 years, and is held up as a key influence on generations of hard rock and heavy metal musicians who married crunching power chords with dark theatrical flourishes.
Cooper is also one of the hardest-working classic rockers out there. He plays about 200 shows a year, performing everywhere from Toronto to Toledo, Ohio, and on Sunday night will be at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. His relentless touring came to a halt from March 2020 to September 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and Cooper admitted that the time away from the road was rough.
无毛视频淲e are all road rats,无毛视频� Cooper said of he and his band. 无毛视频淵ou get addicted to the adrenaline. You get addicted to getting up there in front of an audience. And so that无毛视频檚 the high point of your day. So all of a sudden you pull that out from under you and say, 无毛视频楴o more shows for 18 months,无毛视频� and you go, 无毛视频榃hat?!无毛视频� It无毛视频檚 like going to jail.无毛视频�
Cooper didn无毛视频檛 remain idle during the forced layoff. He continued to host a radio show, 无毛视频淣ights With Alice Cooper,无毛视频� and released his 28th studio album, 无毛视频淒etroit Stories,无毛视频� which pays tribute to his hometown. Working with longtime producer Bob Ezrin, the album serves up an array of styles that sprang from or were refined in the Motor City, including Motown, hard rock and punk. It peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart last year, and hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart that tabulates the physical sale of vinyl albums and compact discs. It also reached No. 1 in Germany.
Cooper无毛视频檚 hit albums from his 1970s heyday, like 无毛视频淏illion Dollar Babies无毛视频� and 无毛视频淲elcome to My Nightmare无毛视频� are concept albums and, according to Cooper, 无毛视频淏ob and I always do conceptual albums. They all have storylines. And I said on this one, 无毛视频楲et无毛视频檚 just do a solid rock album,无毛视频� and it evolved into being a concept album.无毛视频�
He added, 无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 really nice to still be doing it. And doing it better than I did before.无毛视频�
Considering that Cooper can now be found participating in celebrity golf tournaments and pounding out beloved old hits like 无毛视频淪chool无毛视频檚 Out无毛视频� in casinos, it无毛视频檚 easy to forget how shocking Cooper无毛视频檚 act was a half-century ago. Emerging in the envelope-pushing atmosphere of the late 1960s, the dark makeup that lined Cooper无毛视频檚 eyes and a stage act that included guillotines and fake blood were more than enough to send mothers to fainting couches and fathers into fits of apoplexy. Of course, the opprobrium of adults only helped fuel the success of Cooper and compatriots like Kiss and David Bowie.
无毛视频淵ou could shock an audience then,无毛视频� Cooper explained. 无毛视频淣ow, you can无毛视频檛 shock an audience. We still use shock elements in the show, but people know it无毛视频檚 going to be a dark rock and roll vaudeville up there.无毛视频�
Artifacts from Cooper无毛视频檚 career went on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland last fall, including an electric chair that was once used in concert, and stage outfits. He explained, 无毛视频淲e have a place in Los Angeles that is a museum almost. It无毛视频檚 a warehouse of all the props from all the shows over 50 years. I wouldn无毛视频檛 want to sleep in there!无毛视频�
Whenever Cooper visits Pittsburgh, it无毛视频檚 something of a homecoming for him. He spent a few summers in Uniontown with his grandparents when he was growing up, and briefly attended Smock Elementary School.
无毛视频淵eah, Pennsylvania is almost a second home for me,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淲hen you无毛视频檙e on stage, and honestly, when you无毛视频檙e doing 100 cities, you can无毛视频檛 tell one city from another. If I look out in the audience and I see a bunch of Pirates hats, I know I无毛视频檓 in Pittsburgh.无毛视频�