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Alice Cooper’s Reign Spans Half A Century — What Can New Generations Of Artists Learn From His Example?
Alice seems to hold the secret key to longevity as a prolific and beloved artist.
When I wrote ‘half a century’ in the headline, I actually rounded it down. In truth, Vincent Damon Furnier, much better known as the all-singing, all-dancing shockrock supervillain Alice Cooper, has been making music for even longer than that.
Just let that sink in.
Half a century — fifty years — is simply the amount of time that the artist has already spent hopping and bopping in the charts, taking off in earnest with the increasingly ironic 1970 megahit I’m Eighteen, touring extensively and being an international household name.
This alone should tell you a couple of things. First of all, Alice is a pro. Within his niche — if you insist on pinning him down to the shock rock label and genre which he for all intents and purposes birthed — he is the pro. Even if we zoom out and look at the wider world of rock music, Alice is still a giant, looming as large as more mainstream-friendly icons like Keith Richards or the late, great Leonard Cohen.
Do I think it’s possible for younger bands and artists to emulate and recreate Alice Cooper level notoriety in today’s music industry? The short…
