Alice Cooper Rewrites His Past With a New Honest Book

Alice Cooper is seventy-eight years old. He still looks ready for a show. He sits in a hotel bar in New York City. Golf is not on the schedule today. He says that game is as hard to quit as any drug. He misses the morning rounds he used to play with his guitar player. Now he is here to talk about a new book instead.

The memoir is called Devil on My Shoulder. It is his third time writing about his life. He does not trust his first book from 1976. He wrote it while drunk and made things up. The second one focused mostly on golf tips. This latest version tries to be the truest story he can tell. He uses his stage character to check his own memory.

His childhood was different from most rock stars. His father was a preacher. The family moved from Detroit to Arizona. They wanted better air for his asthma. Later he started a band that shocked everyone. They acted out crimes on stage. He even pretended to die in a guillotine. Songs like School's Out became huge hits.

Cooper admits he might have added flavor to old stories. He talks about a chicken he threw at a crowd in 1969. His friends remember the night differently than he does. He says the main point was real even if details changed. The news called him a killer that day. He realized fans wanted a villain to hate.

Today he has stayed sober for over forty years. He still plays close to one hundred shows each year. He counts famous friends like Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. He says he is happier now than ever before. He does not worry about the past anymore.