Alice Cooper ( b2 )

Cooper is known for his sociable and witty personality offstage, with The Rolling Stone Album Guide calling him the world's most "beloved heavy metal entertainer". He is credited with helping to shape the sound and look of heavy metal, and has been described as the artist who "first introduced horror imagery to rock'n'roll, and whose stagecraft and showmanship have permanently transformed the genre". Away from music, Cooper is a film actor, a golfing celebrity, a restaurateur, and, since 2004, a popular radio DJ with his classic rock show Nights with Alice Cooper.

Early life

Cooper was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Ether Moroni Furnier (1924–1987) and his wife Ella Mae, née McCart, (born 1925). His father was an Evangelist in The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. He has English, Huguenot French, Irish, Scottish, and Sioux ancestry. He was named after his uncle, Vincent Collier Furnier, and the writer Damon Runyon. His paternal grandfather, Thurman Sylvester Furnier, was an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite).

Cooper was active in his church at the ages of 11 and 12. While growing up in Detroit, Cooper attended Washington Elementary School, then Nankin Mills Jr. High. Following a series of childhood illnesses, he moved with his family to Phoenix, Arizona, where he attended Cortez High School. In his high school yearbook, his ambition was to be "A million record seller."

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