Other news on the Cooper front: The International Horror Guild (IHG) honored Alice with their Living Legend Award for 2001. He is the first recipient, outside of the literary profession, to ever receive the award. IHG Living Legends are individuals who have made a meritorious and notable contribution and/or have substantially influenced the field of horror and dark fantasy. Previous recipients include Ray Bradbury and Clive Barker. All those years of being scary sure paid off!
A little history lesson on Alice: Alice Cooper's real name is Vincent Damon Furnier (named after "Uncle Vince and Damon Runyon"). He was born on February 4, 1948 in Detroit, Michigan. His family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where Alice grew up and began his rock career. He started a band called the Earwigs with guitarists Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce, along with bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer John Spear. After graduation the group moved to Los Angeles, where they recruited new drummer Neal Smith and changed their name to the Spiders. The Spiders played blistering "acid rock" during the 60s and found a fan in legendary musician Frank Zappa, who signed the group to his label Straight Records.
Renaming themselves Alice Cooper in 1969, the group released their debut album Pretties For You. Following 1970's Easy Action, the group signed to Warner Bros., where they recorded 1971's Love It to Death with producer Bob Ezrin. That album included the hit "Eighteen," setting the stage for many top-selling albums such as Killers, Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle of Love. The band's strong rock chops and awesome live show garnered them fame and fortune and years of wild tours.
After disbanding his original lineup in 1974, Cooper has had a rotating catalog of musicians join his entourage. Several 1980s releases kept Alice in the rock world-but none like 1989's Trash, which established Alice full-force into the metal mainstream. Throughout the 1990s Alice has kept the rock show going strong by consistently releasing new recordings and touring the globe.
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