Boasting a net worth of $50 million, Alice Cooper is a multi-talented American musician, singer, and songwriter renowned for his mastery of numerous rock sub-genres such as hard rock, heavy metal, glam rock, and industrial rock.Alice Cooper Net Worth.
Cooper’s theatrical performances featuring props such as electric chairs, guillotines, and swords has been aptly termed “Shock-Rock” by critics. Beyond his music, Cooper has had the opportunity to dabble in film and television acting.
Net Worth: $50 Million
Date of Birth: Feb 4, 1948 (74 years old)
Place of Birth: Detroit
Gender: Male
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.77 m)
Profession: Singer, Actor, Disc jockey, Singer-songwriter, Guitarist, Musician, Film Score Composer
Nationality: United States of America
Early Career
Furnier had been vocal about his dream of becoming a successful musician throughout his high school days. To get ready for a school talent show, he persuaded some of his friends to create a fake band and parody songs by The Beatles. Amongst his accomplices were Glen Buxton and Dennis Dunaway, who later joined the Alice Cooper group.
With only Buxton knowing how to play the guitar, the rest of them merely mimicked playing their instruments, and they won the competition with flying colors. This encouraged them to form an authentic band, renaming it The Spiders, and purchase instruments from a pawn shop.
When they finished high school in 1966, Michael Bruce came on board as a guitarist and the group recorded the single “Don’t Blow Your Mind” which made a splash at the local level. By 1967, the band was so regularly touring Los Angeles for performances that they decided to settle there, with Neal Smith also joining in as a drummer.
Early Life
Vincent Damon Furnier, better known as Alice Cooper, was born on February 4th, 1948. Furnier’s upbringing in Detroit, Michigan was shaped by his father and grandfather’s religious roles; the former was an Evangelist from the Church of Jesus Christ, and the latter became the president of the church.
Despite Furnier’s involvement in religious activities as a child, he suffered from recurrent illnesses, prompting his family’s relocation to Phoenix, Arizona. At Cortez High School in Phoenix, Furnier continued his education.
Record Deal
Alice Cooper’s success story began with an underwhelming show. The audience fled the club when they began playing, with the exception of one man, Shep Gordon.
As a music manager, Gordon perceived the band’s potential and connected them with Frank Zappa, who was establishing a record label and was seeking unique talent to join his team.
Alice Cooper’s performance astonished Zappa so much that he gave them a three-year deal. Shortly after, they released their debut album, Pretties for You, a psychedelic piece that clashed with their later hard rock tunes. However, the 1969 record received negative reviews and sold poorly.
At this point in their career, Alice Cooper began to refine their “Shock Rock” approach to live performances. This was propelled even further when media hysteria arose from an incident involving a chicken.
Once a publication mistakenly reported Cooper had drunk the blood of a chicken on stage, Zappa instructed the rock star to not deny these rumors, thereby bolstering their reputation.
Although the media attention increased, success still eluded them. Their second album, Easy Action, was released in 1970 but performed even worse than the debut.
Eventually, Cooper and the band left Los Angeles and headed to Michigan, where they found more admiration for their act.
Decline
By the late 1970s, Alice Cooper was struggling to overcome a dependency on alcohol and received treatment in a hospital.
During the 80s, while using a variety of drugs, Cooper made albums that he couldn’t even recall recording – a period later referred to as the “blackout period.” Sadly, these records did not meet with commercial success.
Nevertheless, Cooper began to gain momentum in the late 80s. However, the resurgence soon waned when grunge emerged and the glam rock scene declined. By the early 2000s, Alice Cooper had adjusted to the evolving trends by introducing industrial metal into his repertoire.
During the last decade, he completed several successful tours – in 2010 with Rob Zombie, and in 2014 with Motley Crue. Throughout his career, Cooper featured in various TV shows and movies.
Alice Cooper
In 1968, Vincent Furnier devised a scheme to give the band more distinction. He wanted to make their shows an eerie, theatrical experience and proposed they change their name to Alice Cooper, a name that was ironically innocuous in comparison to the unconventional tactics they employed in performance.
Furnier went as far as to change his own legal name to Alice Cooper in 1975 to ensure that other bands using the same moniker could not take legal action against them.
This bold decision soon morphed Alice Cooper into a vampiric female antagonist characterized by her distressed garments and streaked makeup, resulting in the group’s exposure and notoriety – precisely what Furnier had in mind.
Breakthrough
Following several triumphant live shows, Alice Cooper launched their third record in 1970. Love It to Death was their final opportunity at stardom, and their dedication ultimately paid off.
After their lead single, “I’m Eighteen” earned recognition on the charts, Warner Bros. purchased their contract and re-issued their album with a higher advertising budget, leading to unprecedented success.
After achieving massive success with their albums Killer (1971) and School’s Out (1972), Alice Cooper made waves again with their 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies, earning a platinum status and featuring the hit single “No More Mr. Nice Guy”.
Despite the commercial success, their following tour was heavily opposed by politicians and activists due to its controversial and dark performances.
The group soon disbanded after the release of their 1973 album Muscle of Love, due to internal disputes. After this, Alice Cooper, the individual, shifted to Los Angeles and appeared in shows such as Hollywood Squares.
He went on to launch a successful solo career with his 1975 album Welcome to My Nightmare, leading to the abandonment of the group as a whole.
Personal Life
For a number of years, Alice and his spouse have resided in an extravagant hillside residence in Phoenix, Arizona. Unbeknownst to many, Alice is a formidable golfer who often comes out on top in Pro-Am celebrity competitions against former professionals.