Induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Alice thanks Jimi Hendrix for setting him off on the road to stardom
We are very proud to announce that Alice Cooper will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in March.
Universally considered to be long overdue, the original Alice Cooper band, led by Alice himself, will receive the honour at the New York ceremony alongside new inductees Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Darlene Love and Tom Waits
And according to Alice, he has Jimi Hendrix to thank for setting them on the right track.
“My manager for the last 40 years has been Shep Gordon,” he explains, “In the late 60s, Shep met Jimi around an LA hotel pool with the Chambers Brothers. When Jimi asked him what Shep did, he replied that he didn’t know yet. ‘Are you Jewish?’ asked Jimi, “You should be a manager!’
“One of the Chambers Brothers then said, ‘There's this rock band living in our basement and they need a manager’.”
“If Jimi hadn’t been sunbathing that day, who knows where we might have ended up!”
One of the most influential figures in music, Alice Cooper is only just receiving their due for the impact they have had on rock for the last 40 years. Perhaps, that is because they shocked the world so fundamentally that it has taken this long to recognise their incredible talent.
In 1970, Alice Cooper flipped hippie ideals on their head and astonished the world, “driving a stake through the heart of the Love Generation,” as the man himself puts it.
Without Alice Cooper, there might never have been KISS, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Motley Crue, Slipknot or Rob Zombie... maybe not even David Bowie, or at least not Ziggy Stardust. Heavy Metal took the imagery, punk took the tunes, rock and pop took the showmanship and fans the world over fell in love with the macabre sense of humour. Amazingly, those fans have included legends as diverse as Peter Sellers, Groucho Marx, Salvador Dali and Bob Dylan who proclaimed Alice as an “overlooked songwriter.”
These days, artists as diverse as Metallica and Lady GaGa proclaim Alice Cooper's enduring influence on them.
True originals, Alice Cooper invented the concept of the rock concert as theatre with truly trailblazing stagecraft and showmanship in the early 1970's, with Alice himself continuing as a solo artist since 1975, remaining one of rock’s global megastars with well over 50 million record sales to prove it.
"Take one part Yardbirds, one part West Side Story, starring Bela Lugosi and Bette Davis, and you have Hellzapoppin! and then POOF !! -- and you have Alice Cooper. Now if you can digest that, and the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame can digest that, we will happily be the Hall's archvillains. We are grateful from the bottom of our black little hearts."- Alice Cooper
"This proves that Glen, Neal, Alice, Michael and I (and all of our fans) weren't so crazy after all. I'm absolutely thrilled because, let's face it, this great honour is about as good as it gets." - Dennis Dunaway
"Sometimes, as we were blazing a new theatrical trail in rock, there were moments in the career of our band that overwhelmingly exceeded even our monstrous expectations. Being inducted into "The Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame, Class O£2011," with my four best friends Michael, the late Glen Buxton, Alice and Dennis, is one of those incredible moments for our one of a kind rock band."- Neal Smith
"The band that couldn't shoot straight strikes again, from having all our hits to being in so many Top 100 all-time polls -- be careful what you wish for because with hard work and perseverance and a good group of people like Neal, Dennis, Alice and Glen, you just might get it. It's just a shame that Glen couldn't be here with us to share in it, but we do also share this with Bob Ezrin and Shep Gordon, without whom... " - Michael Bruce
For further info please visit:
| rockhall.com.. | alicecooper.com.. |
