History:
Without a doubt, Alice Cooper is one of rock's few living legends. He is a pioneer of heavy metal, shock rock, glam rock, punk and almost every conceivable form of hard rock. Enraging parents, media, and even the love generation the band was able to juggle scorn and admiration as their outrageous theatrics and stage show pushed them to the top of the charts.
  Playing under several different names in the Phoenix, Arizona area during the late 60s, it wouldn't be long before the Alice Cooper moniker was adopted as the name of the band and the lead vocalist. The original group was rounded out by school chums Glen Buxton (guitar), Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal Smith (drums). The band came into their own with the help of producer Bob Ezrin and the breakthrough album Love It To Death in 1971. The group made waves with an outrageous stage show that included decapitations, electric chairs and hangings while songs like "Dead Babies" and "I Love The Dead" drove their message home. The band would top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with masterpieces such as School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies, and consistently be one of the top drawing live bands of the day. Alcohol dependency and solo aspirations would separate the band in 1974 with Bruce, Dunaway and Smith becoming the Billion Dollar Babies for one album while Alice Cooper would take the band name with him for even more success.
  Welcome To My Nightmare would prove to be one of the most theatrical live shows in modern history, and propel the album of the same name to huge sales. Proving how huge Cooper was at the time, an autobiography called Me, Alice was published in 1976, and Alice started popping up on TV shows such as Hollywood Squares and The Muppet Show. Surrounded by an array of session musicians including Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, Cooper would continue to release albums throughout the late 70s with diminishing results. A full blown alcoholic, Cooper would release albums in a haze that to this day that he has little recollection of recording. From The Inside was a concept album based on Cooper's stay in a mental hospital trying to get clean. It wouldn't be until a three year hiatus that he finally sobered up and played Alice for the first time sober in 1986.
  Alice Cooper would have one of his biggest selling albums of his career in 1989, when hard rock was once again considered hip. His backing bands have included some of the biggest young names in the rock world, with members either coming from or joining such bands as Kiss, Badlands, Winger, Electric Angels, Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth and Dream Theater to name but a few. Original member Glen Buxton passed away on October 19, 1997 and members have patched up any differences they once had. Brutal Planet was Alice's heaviest yet, and the tour to promote it was a full blown return to the theatrics he made so popular. Since then he has released three more well received albums, with the last two returning to his garage rock roots, showing that this rock God has no plans to retire anytime soon. Branching out into movies, radio and restaurant ownership, Alice has shown no signs of slowing down.

Links:
The Official Alice Cooper Page
Sick Things
The Official Dennis Dunaway Page
The Official Neal Smith Page
The Official Dick Wagner Page

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