Alice Cooper Opens Up About How Crack Cocaine Almost Killed Him
Alice Cooper has opened up about the darkest periods of his past, revealing that his introduction to crack cocaine in the early 1980s was the closest he ever came to death. Speaking in a new interview tied to the release of his memoir, Devil on My Shoulder, the shock-rock pioneer detailed how substance struggles nearly derailed his life and marriage before he achieved long-term sobriety.
The Lure and Trap of Early Crack Cocaine
While Cooper earned a reputation for his drinking during the 1970s as a founding member of the Hollywood Vampires drinking club, he points to narcotics as the truly perilous turning point. Drawn into cocaine use after being falsely told that smoking it was not addictive, Cooper found himself face-to-face with the dawning era of crack.
“This was at the very beginning of crack, and crack is the most addictive drug there is, by far,” Cooper said. “That was really the thing that almost killed me.”
Separating the Man From the Monster
Long before conquering his habits, Cooper entered rehab in the late 1970s. It was during that initial clinic visit that a psychiatrist offered an observation that completely shifted his perspective on his drinking.
The psychiatrist asked how much Cooper drank on stage or in the studio, and upon learning he drank during neither, delivered a blunt truth: “So Alice isn’t the problem. You are.”
“It’s not the monster — it’s the doctor that’s in trouble,” Cooper recalled. “And I never thought of it that way, because Alice was such an easy character to push all the blame onto.”
Though that realization was followed by a brief relapse, Cooper eventually cleaned up for good in 1983. An ultimatum from his wife—demanding he clean up and reaffirm his Christian vows, or leave—paved the way for them to salvage their relationship.
How Touring Culture Has Changed
Reflecting on decades in the music business, Cooper noted a massive shift in how touring musicians operate today compared to the excess of the 1970s. Back then, getting high was practically a prerequisite for being hired to ensure everyone shared the same level.
“If you’re in a touring band, nobody gets high, nobody ever drinks, because now it’s a big business and you can’t afford to have a guy that’s doing that,” Cooper observed, pointing to performers like Mick Jagger as an example for lead singers.
Cooper’s memoir, Devil on My Shoulder, arrives on October 8 via Ebury Spotlight in the UK and Da Capo in the US, accompanied by a string of UK book tour appearances and upcoming tour dates.
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