Alice Cooper opens up on wanting to quit persona amid addiction recovery
Alice Cooper, every mother’s favorite rockstar, had a bit of a crisis in the midst of his career. Cooper, whose real name is Vincent Furnier, had a severe drug and alcohol addiction in the mid-1980s, that nearly derailed his future.
It took a strong will, pure dedication, and unlikely advice from an unusual figure in Cooper’s life to set him back on track to keep feeding his Frankenstein.
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In an interview with pastor Greg Laurie, Cooper opens up about his faith and his past addictions.
“[…]the cocaine was speaking a lot louder than her[his wife Sheryl]. Finally, I looked into the mirror and it looked like my makeup, but it was blood coming down. Cooper states in the interview. “I think I might have been hallucinating; I don’t know.
“I flushed the rock down the toilet. I woke up and I called her and I said, ‘It’s done.’ And she goes, ‘Right. You have to prove it.’”
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After calling it quits on the substances, Cooper made a deal with his wife, to prove he was truly clean. They began going to church. It was then that Cooper spoke with his pastor about his persona and contemplated ending Cooper for good.
“I went to my pastor and I said, ‘I think I’ve gotta quit being Alice Cooper now.’ He says, ‘Look where he put you. What if you’re Alice Cooper, but what if you’re now following Christ? … You’re a rock star, but you don’t live the rock star life. Your lifestyle is now your testimony.”
That’s all it took. A kind, understanding statement from a man whom Cooper respected. Without those few sentences, we might have lost one of the greatest rock and roll icons in history.
The full interview can be viewed below.
More Alice Cooper News
Alice Cooper has announced an upcoming EP Breadcrumbs that will drop this fall while he’s on the road with Halestorm.
Cooper’s upcoming EP will contain six songs that will be a tribute to “garage rock heroes” of Detroit.
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Breadcrumbs will contain three covers: MC5’s “Sister Anne,” Suzi Quatro’s “Your Mamma Won’t Like Me” and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels’ “Devil With a Blue Dress On.” There are three original tracks.
Musicians from MC5, Grand Funk Railroad, the Dirtbombs and more make features on the album. It drops September 13 and is available for preorder here, with limited vinyl copies available.
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