Alice Cooper's Real Name: Vincent Furnier

Quick answer: Alice Cooper's documented original name is Vincent Furnier. Encyclopaedia Britannica records that he was born on February 4, 1948, in Detroit, Michigan, and that Alice Cooper was both the name of a hard-rock band and the professional name of its leader. Hits included "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out" (Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress heading is "Cooper, Alice, 1948-," with variants "Furnier, Vincent, 1948-" and "Furnier, Vincent Damon, 1948-." Britannica uses the original name Vincent Furnier. The Rock Who's Who by Brock Helander, cited by the Library of Congress, likewise identifies Alice Cooper as the 1970s band and as the pseudonym of its vocalist, Vincent Furnier, born February 4, 1948, in Detroit. This page uses Vincent Furnier in the title because the middle name Damon appears in the Library of Congress file chiefly as a variant also tied to a later Wikipedia citation. Britannica says Furnier, the son of a preacher, formed a band with four schoolmates in Phoenix, Arizona. After moving to California in 1968, he and the band took the name Alice Cooper.

Career highlights

Britannica describes hyperamplified club shows influenced by British glam rock, a reputation in Los Angeles as "the worst band in Los Angeles," and a contract with Frank Zappa's Straight Records for two unsuccessful albums before a move to Detroit. With producer Bob Ezrin they crafted a guitar-heavy sound on youth anthems including "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out." Makeup-wearing vocalist Cooper, Britannica says, soon eclipsed the band and formed a new group in 1974, adding Welcome to My Nightmare (1975) to a list of significant albums that also includes Killer (1971) and Billion Dollar Babies (1973). The act became known for a shocking stage show that blended horror-film gore with the camp of 1930s Berlin cabaret. Britannica adds that Ezrin later worked with Kiss, a band much influenced by Alice Cooper's music and presentation, as were the New York Dolls. The combination of clear, powerful records and a theatrical live reputation made Cooper one of the defining shock-rock figures of the 1970s. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Helander's Rock Who's Who, as cited by the Library of Congress, likewise treats the name as both a band identity and the pseudonym of its front man, a dual usage that still confuses some searchers.

Name notes for searchers

Vincent Furnier is the documented original name; he is known professionally as Alice Cooper, a name first shared with his band. Searchers looking for the singer of "School's Out" or the shock-rock stage show are usually aiming at the same person.