News : Alice Cooper - The day I almost shot Elvis Presley
Alice Cooper
Lady Gaga with Alice Cooper
Keith Moon with Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper and wife Sheryl CooperHELLRAISER Alice Cooper loved to outrage gig goers with mock impalings and beheadings but his meeting with Elvis Presley nearly became a real horror story.
Alice and the King were in the same Las Vegas hotel when they had their astonishing encounter.
Alice says: “He had the penthouse – this was when he was at the top of his game. I had always been a fan as a kid, so I jumped at the chance to go upstairs and meet him. When I got to the lift I found it was me, Liza Minnelli and the porn actress Linda Lovelace.”
Arriving at Presley’s suite, the unlikely group were frisked for guns by the King’s security team.
“I don’t know why they bothered – when we got inside the place was full of guns,” Alice recalls.
“Elvis took me into the kitchen, opened a drawer, and pulled out a loaded pistol, telling me to put it to his head. I recognised it straight away, a snub .32. I didn’t know what to do.
“I had this gun in my hand and was expecting one of his security to come in any second, see me holding a weapon and shoot me dead.
“A little voice in my left ear was telling me, ‘Go on, this is history, kill him, you’ll always be the guy who killed Elvis’. In my other ear was another voice saying, ‘You can’t kill him, it’s Elvis Presley – wound him instead, you’ll only get a few years!’.
“A fraction of a second later Elvis did a flying kick on the gun, and sent it flying, before tripping me and pinning me to the ground by my neck, announcing, ‘that’s how you stop a man with a gun’.”
The amazing 1971 meeting is just one episode from a remarkable life that has seen Alice match hellraisers The Who’s Keith Moon and The Doors’ Jim Morrison drink for drink (he survived, they didn’t) and date some of the world’s most beautiful women, including Raquel Welch.
He also infuriated morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse so much she tried to have him barred from Britain.
Along the way he has also been accused of killing a woman on a plane, become a born-again Christian, pro-standard golfer and property tycoon. Oh, and he’s the man responsible for inspiring Lady Gaga’s outlandish live shows.
We are in a hotel room to discuss his new box set and forthcoming live shows in Britain, but the conversation quickly returns to his wild days in the Hollywood Vampires, a notorious drinking club which saw him join John Lennon and Keith Moon to drink whisky until they each collapsed.
“There was only one rule at our club”, he says, switching off the Jackie Chan film he has been watching. “Out-drink the other members and be the last man standing – which wasn’t easy with Keith Moon around.” He adds: “We had an alcove at the Rainbow Bar in Los Angeles. Me, Keith Moon, Micky Dolenz, Ringo Starr and John Lennon whenever he’d had a fight with Yoko.
“Those guys could drink. When you party with Keith Moon your body really knows about it – one time he stayed with me for a week, and I literally wasn’t allowed to sleep for seven days.
“Keith was like a battery that never ran out. It got to the stage with Keith where I’d hear he was in town and hide somewhere because I couldn’t face another bender. That was the pace in Los Angeles at the time with all those guys.
“You’re so deeply entrenched in the rock and roll situation – you have hit records, and all the money you could ever need for your life, and people expect you to be in rehab, or hospital, or partying, or in jail.
“But I watched on as my friends, one at a time, died as a result of it. Some of these guys never stopped, every day was an adventure. I started to realise that either I had to stop eventually, or I would die. It was as simple as that.
“I was trying to keep up with people like Jim Morrison, who was like a professional drinker, along with Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, and I suddenly realised that each one of them collapsed and went down at 27.
“Your body just cannot keep up with that lifestyle. Those of us who survived were the slightly younger generation, who were lucky enough to work out what was going on. People like me and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith who are still working now, because we stopped just in time.”
It finally took a major health scare for Alice, born Vincent Furnier, to realise how close he had come to being “a dead legend”, and finally tackle his alcoholism head on in 1979.
He has not had a drink since, a decision that saved his life – these days he is a born-again Christian, happily married to Sheryl and his only addiction is golf.
“I woke up one morning vomiting blood. Literally throwing up blood. The doctor said to me ‘You’ve got about two weeks or you’re going to be dead. You’re gonna be gone’. And he wasn’t kidding either.
“I had to go to a hospital and get better before the rehab place would even take me in, because of the physical state that I was in. Rehab wouldn’t even take me in.”
Despite his phenomenal drinking, Alice was an international superstar, and in 1972 his chart-topping anthem School’s Out prompted a tour to the UK.
Alice, 63, went on to sell more than 50 million albums worldwide and had hit singles Elected, Poison and No More Mr Nice Guy.
But his hellraiser reputation preceded him and when he arrived in London there was a campaign to have him immediately deported, led by morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse and MP Leo Abse. The MP claimed Alice’s gruesome stage show, which over the years has featured snakes, impalings, beheadings and executions, was “peddling the culture of the concentration camp”.
Though Alice says: “There was a lot less blood in our show than there is in Macbeth. We were on a flight, first class, heading to London – by that time our reputation was pretty big. The British music fans seemed to really get us, they saw the humour in what we were doing.
“I had no criminal record, I wasn’t doing drugs, but Mary Whitehouse had made her mind up we weren’t coming in.
“It didn’t help that on the way over I’d been sat next a 90-year-old woman who had fallen asleep, and when we landed I tried to wake her up – only to find she was dead. The rumours back home started pretty fast, ‘did you hear, Alice killed a woman’, but eventually we managed to argue our way into Britain.
“Actually the notoriety did us the world of good – our album, Billion Dollar Babies, went straight to number one, and we sent flowers to Mary Whitehouse every day for weeks as our way of saying thank you.”
Alice’s brand of theatrical rock continues to spark fierce debate even today. When pop icon Lady Gaga imitated his trademark “hanging” ritual at the end of a recent performance, it prompted hundreds of horrified viewers to complain to broadcasters and the regulator Ofcom.
“Everyone was horrified when Lady Gaga hung herself on stage at the MTV awards,” he says. “I’ve been doing that move for 30 years.
“I’ve met Gaga and she’s an incredibly intelligent girl, very creative, even if her music isn’t my sort of thing I admire her hugely.
“She wrote to me once, and it said: ‘Dear Alice, thank you for letting me steal your show.’ It’s just nice to see something with an edge to it.
“Bands these days are so boring – the business is being ruined by reality TV. They’re looking for a pretty pop star to make a quick buck. Artists like Bob Dylan and U2 wouldn’t even get past the first round.”
Father-of-three Alice’s own influence was recognised this year, when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April. On Thursday he picks up the Kerrang Icon Award, and headlines the Download festival this Saturday.
by Simon Boyle
Daily Mirror
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BILLION DOLLAR BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!
I had the pleasure of meeting you twice in NYC in the 80's. First, on Brodway and 57th street, then at the old Hard Rock Cafe close by a day later. In both meetings, you were gracious and down to earth and just a nce guy. Glad you made it through all these years.
I had the pleasure of meeting you twice in NYC in the 80's. First, on Brodway and 57th street, then at the old Hard Rock Cafe close by a day later. In both meetings, you were gracious and down to earth and just a nce guy. Glad you made it through all these years.
Alice is the best . I play Alice in an ALICE COOPER tribute band( mALICE and Monsters) I would love to meet him some day I have went out of my way when He comes to town but have had no luck , to sit and hear more stories of his meetings with othere legens would be a dream come true for a real fan that gets it. he has a great marrage fine family life faithfull , and true to his family loves golf amd performing man he sounds like a man to respect , and I hope to hear or read more of this legends stories . when ALICE walks on stage the energy that he sends with just his arival is amazing after an ALICE concert all others are like going to a piano bar wich is ok SOMETIMES if you are looking for a nap. next time you can see his concert GO! at our shows we get people that bring others who may not be a huge ALICE fan but comments from most of them are Well I was not a big Fan But man that was fun and very interestng and entertaining thanks. go to an ALICE concert and get entertained ...
Great stories/information about your life, Coop. I hadn't heard them before, and am glad to read them here.
Dear Alice,
Stop being a helleraiser and go back to church. We need your 10 percent.
just kidding,
Jon Ellis
Alice is a perpetual story teller. His interest in Elvis Presley is quite fascinating. I love his website and his show. I wish I could meet Alice. His music has been an inspiration in my life.
sincerely,
Jon Ellis
Salt Lake City
Alice is being very gracious but "Gaga" steals most of her act from others. Elton John immediately comes to mind. She's not original and Alice gives her far too much credit. The little "faux metal" band she has decorating her performances of late don't help to make her music and performance any more palatable either.
The beauty of Alice has always been his "tongue in cheek" attitude. He's always been a middle finger to the musical establishment. When everyone was being David Cassidy and the Osmonds, he wanted to channel a Joan Crawford and the darkness underneath the hype of hollywood and music. There was always the "joke" that he and his fans got amidst all the head chopping, nurse slapping, bloodletting etc. It's like watching the first Evil Dead movie..you saw the gags from the Three Stooges when the light bulbs filled with blood and you laughed while everyone else was banning the film. "Gaga" takes herself far too seriously to the point where she's a joke herself. Again..Alice is being gracious as he should be, he's got nothing to prove these days. He's a pioneer and has given us so much wonderful music and glorious imagery to lose ourselves in.
"Love you to death" Alice but please..none of that trite "featuring Lady Gaga" on the new album or it'll be the first Alice album I won't buy. You don't need the gimmick you don't need to sell out, you've never needed to, you don't need to now. Great news on having Bob Ezrin back. Wouldn't mind seeing Desmond Child writing with Alice again also.
Just got back from watching you at Donington with my daughter (I'm 49, she's 16), and you rocked it again! Even competing with System of a Down of the other stage at the same time - nobody else could have done that. Totally different show to Sonisphere last year (we were there too, front row) but just as good. When the old guys can put on such a great show it's tough for the new acts to get to the top. While waiting for your set I discovered Twisted Sister - how they have passed me by I don't know, but they rocked too.
You're my daughter's absolute favourite act, she's done all her GCSE coursework about you!
Come back next year, wherever it is, we'll be there!
Alice, launch Calico's singing|entertainment career now. :-) Perfect timing. It'll become: "Who's better--Lady Gaga or Calico?" (like Britney Spears vs. Christina Aguilera, Megadeth vs. Metallica, Iron Maiden vs. Judas Priest, Madonna vs. Cyndi Lauper, etc.--there are always two). 
But..."there can only be one." Alice's Drusilla-esque daughter CALICO!
By the way, how is that duet|collaboration with Lady Gaga coming? She's gonna sing it with you during the "Welcome 2 My Nightmare Show" on HBO, right? 
My dad lived in Malibu when you did. He also was your chauffeur when you were in Boca Raton for a golf tournment. You talked about the old days in Malibu.
Since then, Ron, my dad has passed away. A sudden heart attack. I had thought at some point i would get to meet you.
I have a metal band, "Inoculation" that dad had started our website.
If every back in Boca Raton, I'd love to meet you. Dad thought highly of you.
Alice - more great stuff from the undisputed King of Rock.
Suz - These stories NEVER grow old - they are a part of the great history of Rock'n'Roll - I can't get enough of it
Damon - don't talk down Elvis dude - he was THE 1st King of Rock - it's an undisputable fact - check your history - Elvis rocked, and I dare say, The Coop would agree with that accessment.
Looking forward to seeing Alice again (sooner than later hopefully) - I've done so every year for the past many - got a chance to meet him in SF and have the pictures proudly displayed in my office - one of the greatest days of my life. Long live the Coop and his show, but never forget what came b4 - I know he never would.
Alice has a great story and I have followed it since 1971. What fun and it's unbelievable that he just keeps going and going and still entertaining as hell! He might have dropped a few names in the story and why not -- he was part of a history. Thank god there is someone alive and coherent enough to remember it. Looking forward to his renion with Bob Ezrin and his new album!
Hello Mr. Cooper,
I need your help with a project that will save our country. Please take a few minutes to discuss it with me.
Thanks!
Fucking legends can tell these stories over and over again, because the are legends ...
i for one enjoy hearing the old road storys from the Legends like Alice, Gene Simmons, Robert Plant and David Gilmour and many others. a lot of the storys are funny, inspiring and help me understand the real ways of rock'n'roll. other storys sometimes reveal secrets of albums or certain songs that are interesting to her. The big thing that comes from these old storys the legends tell is that kids today can learn from them. like this one, 'booze or death'! Awesome story Alice , keep'em coming
Thanks Alice for the many years of entertainment. I am also a friend of Bill Wilson and thanks for inspiring me to go that route also. Hopefully I'll see you in Toronto sometime.
A Longtime Fan
Dave Martin
P.S. Love the stories I do enjoy them.
MR.COOPER PLEASE COME BACK SOON TO BRAZIL, WE ALREADY MISS YOU.YOU´RE THE MAN.A BIG HUG FROM YOUR FAN NUMBER ONE ROGERIO MENON FROM SÃO PAULO BRAZIL
Born again christian . . . really? How does that work? Don't the shows make baby jesus cry? :-p
Agree with Suze - Alice tells these stories over and over - He is a true legend but I wonder why other groups etc dont name drop Alice and rehash their side of Alices stories ?
alice I am very glad that you didnt shoot the king so that you could carry on to become the king the king is dead long live the king the king has lost his crown I found it on the the ground I found it fit just right not to loose and not to tight heavy is the head that wears the crown the emperor has no clothes he snorted them up his nose but I guess thats just the way it goes first your money and then your clothes heavy is the head that wears the crown and poor old humpty fell off the wall I know because I took hs balls everyone wondered where they went I ate them like a sacrement so now he is a part of me as I'm sure that he was meant to be all the kings horses and all the kings men went out and drank toasts to the loss of a friend he was a good egg that never let us down heavy is the head that wears the crown thank you for all of your poetry Alice and your music this is my poem I hope you like it because I couldnt have written it without you
I enjoyed the storie !!! ALICE you are the living icon...you are the best rock star and that was confirmed at your shows in south america !!! Thank you Alice!!!!
Great story Alice. You are the greatest rocker and showman in rock and roll history. These stories should be told and shared with everyone. You've always been a hero to me (since 5th grade back in 1973) and I appreciate how you can be a shock rocker and be such a great person in real life. God bless you and keep on putting out the best music of all times. Like I said before you never have gotten the fame and credit you deserve.
Keep on telling these great stories. Your an inspiration to alot of people and it's great hearing how your life has changed. But you have always been the best rocker and always will be. Luv you always!
Alice Cooper is the best at whatever he does! He rocks! I love his humor! A day does ot go by that I don't listen too him! There is an album for every mood!
Alice Cooper is the most talent songwriter/singer in history! All if us have him to thank for the shape he gave hard rock! To the person complaining about name dropping you are stooopid (The Album Hey Stoopid)! He gives us the names of people to give you a sense and picture in your mind of the times he had with other rock legends! I love his memories and am glad he shares them with us! He repeats things b/c interviewers always ask him the same questions and he with respect answer without rolling his eyes as to say "Again?". We have him to thank for saving my life! He sings alot that I relate too! He has humor and is just an all aroung amazing human being! ALICE YOU ARE THE BEST!
Alice, keep up with the stories. You ARE king of shock rock. I saw your concert in Ottawa (No More Mr. Nice Guy). I was the nurse with the very large hypodermic needle and of course, my husband was dressed as... you got it Alice. Would love to get backstage passes. Will keep trying. Your concerts are better than awesome and we haven't missed one yet! Was great to have floor seats. Hope your back in Ottawa soon ;)
Alice, i have been a huge fan of you since the early 1970's !
I am so glad that your original group has reunited!
Also, you deserve to make it into the Rock Hall of Fame !
"Schools Out" will always be my favorite, but your "Killer"
album also rocked ! I like your Sportsbar in Pheonix !
You're such a business man, dude ! Keep it up !
I enjoyed hearing about your past , Elvis ? just the fact that you got to meet him is badass . . . got to see you in Knoxville TN for the second time in my life with Rob Zombie , first time was in Las Vegas NV . . . both shows were very entertaining , kept my interest and the theatrics were great . Keep up the good work as a faithful witness for Christ as well . . .
Great story, but I read about it years ago - keep rockin' Alice!
me and m bf listen to you on the radio here in australia and try not to miss it and my mum and step dad saw you in concert and mum really loved it she has been a fan for a long time and they work not far from where you played golf that time you was in melbourne
Alice you have been a favorite for 35 years now, and have always and will alway love your music and entertainment, only seen you 3 times in concert over the years but, they have always been so memorable, girl friend of 8 years had never never seen a concert ever and now has seen you twice and loves when i turn your tunes on full blast. Alice you rock and keep on kicking dude, your tunes will forever play in this house !!!!!!!!!!!
The first time i say alice i was 13 welcome to my nightmare tour in niagara falls was at the riot at the cne grounds in toronto 17 shows in all total last time here in the uk with motorhead and joan jett which was a treat joan rocked. Always an amazing show hoping to see you while your here in uk looks like a killer show congrat to the hall of fame very much deserved just wanted to say thanks for always rocking !!!!!!
I really think you are a vampire Alice. That is the only way you can still be rocking today. I saw you in Detroit when I was a teen in the 70s and WE barely made it through that period. Vampire explains it all. But it was an entertaining article to cover up the fact.
The what-if's in our lives. Kill Elvis, Ha ha ha ha! What a laugh!
great story alice. The gig in belfast last night ... you completely stole the show, def leppard had nothing on you
I have been a fan of your greatest hits for years. I paint Alice make-up on a bunch of my artwork. Just last week, I bought "Love It To Death" on itunes. Instant favorite album. Same as when I bought 'School's Out' about 10 years ago. There's pictures floating around of you holding a painting of mine. HAhaha !! I gave it to you, and you gave it away!! hahahahah!!! Coolest kick in the balls ever!!
'Bogart' facebook/tommyandsis
Well Alice has nailed it on the head AGAIN!!! These new bands have nothing to claim but their names, old skewl bands wouldn't have a chance for ten seconds on the radio. I prefer rock bands not many kids my age has heard of. I listen to the bands my parents did when they was my age. GO ALICE!!!
Elvis sucked and so did his music. i'd take your music and Michael Jackson's music anytime Alice Cooper, before Elvis music. you and Michael Jackson has better music then Elvis. i'd love to meet you in person Alice Cooper. i live here in Phoenix. my address is 6024 w. clarendon ave. phoenix Arizona 85033. i'd also like to have my picture taken with you and have an autograph picture of you also. you rock!!
Thanks for sharing all of this interesting history Alice. You are an amazing survivor of a very crazy time. I still enjoy your show. I am 50 and i go with my daughters when you come to town. (vancouver area) We get right in the front on the floor and enjoy every second of the performance. Keep on rockin and telling those stories.
What an incredible life. Write down everything you remember - your loved ones will be forever grateful. Maybe one day I will share with you when I actually dug my parents grave at midnight so my grandmother wouldn't know that my mom had been cremated. That is a story. Hugs.
What an incredible life. Write down everything you remember - your loved ones will be forever grateful. Maybe one day I will share with you when I actually dug my parents grave at midnight so my grandmother wouldn't know that my mom had been cremated. That is a story. Hugs.
What would a rock star's stories be like if he didn't name the other rock stars that he experienced things with? I love hearing and reading this kind of stuff! How about writing an updated biography, Alice? I have your one from the '70s but a lot has happened since then!
ALICE COOPER remember santiago de chile
I knew this story....what a fright...i mean if you had did it we would have never see shows again...thats the thing. I like Elvis but thats the point..no shows anymore,that would have bore me.
Ya know Suz, he is telling a story. Name dropping would be gossip. Got it?
Aw, heck - he's not "name-dropping". Sheesh. He's telling a great Rock & Roll story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, Alice - thanks for sharing!
Suz, he's 63, old people tell stories. You just want him to not take interviews? These stories are his past, if you live that long I'm sure you will be rehashing stories yourself that people may or may not want to hear.
