Music
Alice Cooper
born 1948 · singer, songwriter
The shock-rock pioneer was born in Detroit, grew up in East Detroit, and found his first real audience when his band moved to a Pontiac farmhouse in 1970.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 78- Birth name
- Vincent Damon Furnier
- Also known as
- The Godfather of Shock Rock
- Detroit years
- 1948–early 1960s, 1970–1972
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Vincent Furnier was born in Detroit and spent his early childhood in East Detroit, a few blocks from Eastland Mall, watching Soupy Sales on lunchtime TV and dreaming of playing left field for the Tigers. His family later moved to Phoenix, where the band that became Alice Cooper formed in 1964. After the group flopped in California, it relocated in 1970 to a farmhouse in Pontiac, Michigan, where it rehearsed for months with producer Bob Ezrin. Midwestern crowds raised on the Stooges and the MC5 embraced their theatrical act at halls like the Eastown Theatre, and Michigan stayed their base until 1972. He kept coming back: the Detroit shows of his 1986 Halloween tour became the concert film The Nightmare Returns, and in 2021 he released Detroit Stories, recorded in Royal Oak with Detroit musicians including Wayne Kramer of the MC5. He remains a fan of the Red Wings, Tigers and Pistons.
Highlights
- Hits include “I'm Eighteen”, “School's Out” and “Poison”
- Original Alice Cooper band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2011)
- Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame (2005)
- Album Detroit Stories (2021) salutes the city's rock scene
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 4
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1970
Eastown Theatre
Demolished · 1931–1973
East side movie palace turned rock hall (1969–1973); the band played several weekends here in 1970. Demolished in 2015.
Lived here · 1970–1972
Band farmhouse, Pontiac
Status being checked
The band's home and rehearsal space outside Pontiac, where Bob Ezrin shaped the sound of Love It to Death.
Related place · 1987
Pontiac Silverdome
Demolished · 1975–2013
He appeared at WrestleMania III here in 1987 before a then-record crowd of 93,173. The stadium was demolished in 2017–2018.
Recorded here · 2019–2020
Rustbelt Studios
Status being checked
Royal Oak studio where much of Detroit Stories was recorded with local musicians.