Alice Cooper

Graduated from Cortez High School, in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1966.

Lived with Cynthia Lang from 1968-1976. She sued for community property.

Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of a minister. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, at a young age and still lives in the state today. At age 17, he formed a rock band called the Earwigs, who changed their name to The Spiders and then The Nazz, before finally settling on Alice Cooper. The line-up included himself, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton and Neal Smith. Rumors (which the band did not necessarily make efforts to deny) to the contrary, the name was not chosen from a Ouija board reading nor was it named after a woman once burned at the stake for witchcraft -- it was picked because the random name had a twisted sense of originality and misleading innocence, complementing the band's bizarre and macabre stage theatrics and lyric themes. The band got their first big break playing at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles one night in 1969 when Frank Zappa discovered them and signed them to his record label. After two albums-and relocating to Detroit -- they were signed by Warner Bros.

The band made an appearance in the movie Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) and their own theatrically released documentary Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper (1974).

However, by the late 1970s, Alice's problems with alcohol became life-threatening, and he was checked into a clinic for rehabilitation.

, hooked up with famous producer Robert Ezrin and came out with their third album, the breakthrough "Love It to Death" in 1971. Several albums followed, including "Killer", the highly successful "School's Out", "Billion Dollar Babies" and "Muscle of Love".

Alice himself also starred in an episode of The Snoop Sisters: The Female Instinct (1972).

Alice and his original band made the song "The Man with the Golden Gun" intended for the James Bond movie The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), but the movie producers deemed Alice "too controversial" and went with another song of the same title sung by Lulu for the movie. The Alice version of "The Man with the Golden Gun" appears on the band's 1974 album "Muscle of Love".

The original Alice Cooper band broke up in 1975, with the lead singer getting his name legally changed to Alice Cooper -- and performing under the name ever since -- while some of the other members formed a band called the Billion Dollar Babies. That same year saw the release of a Greatest Hits album, while Alice as a solo artist completed the album "Welcome to My Nightmare" and his incredibly theatrical tour. It was on this tour that he met his future wife Sheryl Cooper, who had been hired as a dancer.

Along with the album and tour came a television special, Alice Cooper: The Nightmare (1975), and both included dialog from horror movie legend Vincent Price.

Alice made a number of other television and movie appearances in the second half of the decade, including The Muppet Show (1976), Mae West's final film Sextette (1977), Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) and several appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962).

He told of his experiences on the semi-fictional album "From the Inside" (there was also a comic book of the same title), and explored different sounds in the early 1980s with four albums ("Flush the Fashion", "Special Forces", "Zipper Catches Skin", "DaDa").

The 1980s also saw Alice starring in the horror films Monster Dog (1984) and Prince of Darkness (1987), as well as having mostly new songs for the soundtracks to Roadie (1980), Class of 1984 (1982), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Shocker (1989).

Children: Calico Cooper (b. May 19, 1981), Dashiell Cooper (b. 1984) and Sonora Rose Cooper (b. 1993). Sonora was rumored to be the young actress who appeared with Alice in a television commercial for school supplies, but it wasn't her.

He wrote the song "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" for the movie Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986). He also appeared in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), uncredited as Freddy's father. This makes him the only person who has been involved with Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees almost years before the two fought each other in Freddy vs. Jason (2003).

After having a severe "falling off the wagon" to the point of almost dying, he sobered up once more -- this time for good -- and returned with the albums "Constrictor", "Raise Your Fist and Yell" and the 1989 album "Trash", which featured the hit song "Poison".

However, it was the 1990s that brought Alice's most memorable movie appearance: playing himself in Wayne's World (1992). The phrase uttered by characters Wayne and Garth in his presence, "We're not worthy!", became one of the most popular movie catchphrases of the decade.

Alice also played the father of Freddy Krueger in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and himself on That '70s Show (1998) and Something Wilder (1994). The decade also saw the release of his "Hey Stoopid" and "The Last Temptation".

On August 26, 1996, he appeared at the Hard Rock Cafe in Phoenix, Arizona for the Phoenix Coyotes' unveiling of their new uniforms.

He owned a restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona called "Cooper'stown" from 1998 through 2017.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 2, 2003.

Has received two honorary doctorates: a Doctor of Performing Arts degree from Grand Canyon University, in Phoenix, Arizona, in May 2004; and, a Doctor of Music degree from the Musicians Institute, in Los Angeles, California in March 2012.

Hosts a radio show "Nights with Alice Cooper", broadcast on many FM radio stations across the United States. [2005]

As a guest on BBC's Breakfast (2000) (August 10, 2010), Cooper disclosed to hosts Sian Williams and Bill Turnbull that he stopped drinking in 1981.

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2011. The other inductees were Darlene Love, Neil Diamond, Leon Russell, Tom Waits and 'Dr. John'.

In 2015 Alice Cooper, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and Johnny Depp formed the band Hollywood Vampires. The name of the band was derived from "The Hollywood Vampires", a celebrity drinking club that was formed in the 1970s by Alice that included members such as John Lennon and Ringo Starr of The Beatles and Keith Moon of The Who.

His favorite songs are "19th Nervous Breakdown" by The Rolling Stones, "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors, "My Sharona" by The Knack, "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil, "My Generation" by The Who, "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses, "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie, "Over Under Sideways Down" by The Yardbirds, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet, and "A Hard Day's Night" by The Beatles (Source: BBC Radio 2 "Tracks of My Years").