Fact: Alice Cooper turns 75 today, Feb. 4. He’s a rock legend, famous heavy metal musician, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who loved to shock his fans with outrageous (often violent) on-stage antics.
Question: What does he have to do with Christianity?
Answer: More than you might think.
The old Alice
Vincent Furnier (Cooper’s real name) was born in 1948 in Detroit, Michigan. Due to his childhood illnesses, his family moved to the dryer climes of Phoenix, Arizona. At school, he ran cross-country and has been a lifelong hockey, baseball, basketball and golf fan.
Furnier’s father (a pastor) liked rock and roll saying, “I love the music, I can’t abide the lifestyle.’
His grandfather was also a pastor (and evangelist) so although young Furnier was surrounded by believers, he turned away from the faith as a teenager.
His first band was called “The Earwigs” followed by “The Spiders” (related to “The Beatles”?) and “Nazz”. The band’s name became “Alice Cooper” in 1964 in Phoenix. Furnier was 16. They purposely chose a “wholesome” name to contrast with their image and music. They started to gain popularity with their 1970 album “Love It To Death,” and the publicity generated from “the chicken incident” on stage (the chicken didn’t survive).
When the band broke up, Furnier legally adopted the band’s name for himself. He started performing solo in 1975 calling himself “Alice Cooper”. He increasingly drew inspiration from horror films and dark vaudeville to shock his millions of fans around the world. His hits included “Poison” and “Billion Dollar Babies” (his most popular album). He was dubbed “the Godfather of Shock Rock”. His on-stage props included pyrotechnics, guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, reptiles, baby dolls, and dueling swords.
Over his five-decade career, Cooper experimented with various musical styles including hard rock, glam rock, heavy metal, glam metal, new wave, art rock, and industrial rock. He toured extensively across America and Europe to the delight of many youth and to the disgust of many parents. His record sales exceed 50 million.
The new Alice
In 1976, Cooper married Sheryl Goddard (her father was also a pastor). Together, they had three children (two girls and a boy). In spite of Cooper’s success, the pressures of touring and temptations of stardom began to take a toll. His lifestyle of drinking and drugging made him an alcoholic and in 1983 Cooper (age 35) hit bottom. His wife filed for divorce. Alcohol was destroying his marriage but also his pancreas and liver. He almost died.
At this low point, Cooper returned to his roots and his faith. In his words, “Finally, I looked in the mirror and it looked like my makeup, but it was blood coming down [from my eyes]. I think I might have been hallucinating; I don't know. I flushed the rock down the toilet. I woke up and I called [Sheryl] and I said, 'It's done.' And she goes, 'Right. You have to prove it.' One of the deals was we start going to church. I knew who Jesus Christ was, and I was denying him. I knew that there had to either come a point where I either accepted Christ and started living that life, or if I died in this, I was in a lot of trouble. And that's what really motivated me. I just got to a point of saying, 'I'm tired of this life.' And I know that this is right when the Lord opens your eyes and you suddenly realize who you are and who He is."
Cooper was freed from his sins —and his alcoholism. He lost his desire for drugs and alcohol, prompting his doctor to call it “an absolute miracle”. His wife saw that it was real and they reconciled. Eventually, he began helping other rock musicians with their addiction problems.
At first, Cooper didn’t talk about his spiritual awakening but in recent years he’s become more vocal. He and his wife attend Camelback Bible Church in Arizona. He also prays daily to stay sober, and reads and studies his Bible regularly.
At one point, Cooper thought about changing his name again. Surprisingly, his pastor advised against it. “Look where he put you. What if you're Alice Cooper, but what if you're now following Christ? And you're a rock star, but you don't live the rock-star life. Your lifestyle is now your testimony.”
It was this testimony on video that helped deliver Simone Peer, a former “white witch” from what she now calls “the beautiful deception”. She too repented and emerged from “the deepest, darkest pit” into the peace and freedom she was seeking.
Alice Cooper, the redeemed rebel, now says, “There was never more of a rebel than Jesus Christ. You wanna talk about a rebel — he was the ultimate.” In a sense, he’s right.
Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor.
