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Get ready to rock with Alice Cooper this summer
Madison, Wis. (June 15, 2023) — School’s out for summer… making it the perfect time to rock and roll
during An Evening with Alice Cooper on Thursday, Aug. 10 at 8 p.m. in Overture Hall. Tickets ($59-149
plus applicable fees) go on sale Friday, June 16 at 11 a.m. at overture.org.
Alice Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard rock that was designed to shock. Drawing
equally from horror movies, vaudeville and garage rock, the group created a stage show that featured
electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood and boa constrictors. He continues to tour regularly, performing
shows worldwide with the dark and horror-themed theatrics that he’s best known for.
With a schedule that has included six months year in and year out on the road, Alice Cooper brings his
own brand of rock psycho-drama to fans both old and new, enjoying it as much as the audience does.
Known as the architect of shock-rock, Cooper (in both the original Alice Cooper band and as a solo artist)
has rattled the cages and undermined the authority of generations of guardians of the status quo,
continuing to surprise fans and exude danger at every turn, like a great horror movie, even in an era
where CNN can present real life shocking images.
Having finally gotten back out on the concert trail in 2021-2022, Alice insists he’s still motivated to
continue touring and recording albums, as well as making time for other projects, including most recently,
Alice’s widely praised 2018 performance as King Herod in NBC-TV’s live production of “Jesus Chris
Superstar” on Easter Sunday.
Released in February 2021, his latest album “Detroit Stories” (produced again by Bob Ezrin) is inspired by
the garage rock music of Detroit in the late Sixties, including several classic covers of Detroit hits from that
era, recorded in Detroit with all Detroit musicians. It entered Billboard’s album sales chart at #1 the week
of release and also charted high upon release on the album charts in the UK, Germany, Australi, Sweden
and other countries.
As if that wasn't enough, “Nights With Alice Cooper,” Alice’s nightly radio show, continues to air in
nearly 100 cities in the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK. The five-hour long show features his favorite
classic rock songs along with his insider anecdotes about many of the artists.
Cooper was born in Detroit, Mich., and moved to Phoenix with his family. The Alice Cooper band formed
while they were all in high school in Phoenix and was discovered in 1969 by Frank Zappa in Los Angeles,
where he signed them to his record label. Their collaboration with young record producer Bob Ezrin led
to the break-through third album “Love It to Death,” which hit the charts in 1971, followed by “Killer,”
“School’s Out,” “Billion Dollar Babies” and “Muscle of Love.” Each new album release was accompanied
by a bigger and more elaborate touring stage show. 1974 saw the release of a “Greatest Hits” album,
and then Cooper, in 1975, released his first solo album, “Welcome to My Nightmare” in 1975,
accompanied by the legendary groundbreaking theatrical Welcome to My Nightmare concert tour.
Associated with that album and tour was the ground-breaking network TV special “Alice Cooper: The
Nightmare.” Other film and television appearances include “The Muppet Show,” Mae West’s last film
“Sextette,” “Roadie,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearst Club Band” and appearances on “The Tonight Show”
starring Johnny Carson and Tom Snyder’s “Tomorrow Show.” The original band also made an
appearance in the movie “Diary of a Mad Housewife” in 1979, filmed the full-length feature film “Good
To See You Again Alice Cooper,” and Alice appeared in a 1972 episode of “The Snoop Sisters.”
Alice’s solo career skyrocketed in the late 1970’s with a succession of hit singles, including “You & Me,”
and classic albums, including “Lace And Whiskey” and “From The Inside,” and bigger and even more
elaborate concert tours.
In the ‘80’s Cooper explored different sounds, highlighted by the new wavish album “Flush The Fashion,”
the heavy metal “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist And Yell,” and then 1989’s melodic hard rock album
“Trash,” which featured the massive hit single “Poison” and became his biggest selling album and single
worldwide. During this period Alice also appeared in the horror films “Monster Dog” and John
Carpenter’s “Prince of Darkness,” and recorded songs for the soundtracks to “Roadie,” “Class of 1984,”
“Friday the 13 Part VI: Jason Lives” and “Wes Craven’s Shocker.”
Cooper’s most memorable movie appearance was as himself in “Wayne’s World” in 1991. He also
played (fittingly) Freddy Krueger’s wicked step-father in “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare,” and
appeared on Gene Wilder’s TV series “Something Wilder” as well as on “That ‘70’s Show.” The 90’s also
saw the release of the albums “Hey Stoopid,” “The Last Temptation” and “Fistful of Alice,” a live album.
1999 saw the release of the definitive historical 4 CD box set "The Life & Crimes of Alice Cooper," from
Rhino/Warners.
Twenty-plus years into the new millenium, Cooper continues to be very productive and busy, writing,
recording and releasing the albums “Brutal Planet,” “Dragon Town,” “The Eyes of Alice Cooper,” “Dirty
Diamonds," “Along Came a Spider,” "Welcome 2 My Nightmare," 2017’s “Paranormal” and 2018’s “Live
at L’Olympia Paris,” plus "Old School 1964-1974," a limited edition box set celebrating the original band.
2021 also has seen the DVD/Blu-ray release of the live video of that “Live at L’Olympia Paris” concert.
He also wrote and published a memoir, "Golf Monster," in 2007, which tracked his life from childhood to
rock stardom, and his journey from alcoholic to golf addict, and was featured in the Tim Burton film
"Dark Shadows" in 2012.
Alice, Dennis, Neal, Michael and the late Glen Buxton (posthumously) were inducted into the Rock N Roll
Hall of Fame in March 2011.
2014 saw the release of "Super Duper Alice Cooper," a documentary detailing the arc of Alice's
rollercoaster ride in the world of rock superstardom. Directed and produced by the same team from
Banger Films that delivered the award-winning Iron Maiden and Rush documentaries, it premiered at
the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival in NYC and has since been released on Blu-Ray and DVD by Eagle Rock
Entertainment.
Though his 2020 worldwide concert tour, dubbed “Ol’ Black Eyes Is Back,” was cut short by the
pandemic, since September of 2021 he’s been able to bring his iconic brand of rock and roll to fans on
five continents again with dozens of shows across North America and Europe through 2022.
With his influence on rock and roll and popular culture long since acknowledged, there is little that Alice
Cooper hasn't achieved in his remarkable career, including platinum albums, sold-out tours and any
number of honors and career achievement awards.
OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS in Madison, Wis., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that
features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and four galleries where national and international
touring artists, nine resident companies and hundreds of local artists engage people in nearly 700,000
educational and artistic experiences each year. With the vision to provide “Extraordinary Experiences for
All,” Overture’s mission is to support and elevate our community’s creative culture, economy and
quality of life through the arts. overture.org
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