Alice Cooper seems to have comfortably embraced the role of rock 'n' roll "villain" over the years, as he told the Rock Classics Radio during a Halloween special.
Known for his theatrical stage performances, the artist said he wanted his band to be something "threatening and fun" at the same time. "Rock 'n' roll needed a villain. Real rock 'n' roll didn't have a villain. We had all these Peter Pans and no Captain Hook. I looked around and thought, 'I'll be the villain with gusto,'" he recounts.
“ Jim Morrison was probably the closest thing to that we had. He was a kind of dark outlaw, everything was about death, but he wasn’t menacing,” he reflects. “I wanted Alice to be menacing and fun at the same time, you know? I wanted that combination of not knowing exactly what he was going to do, but you know… He might cut your throat, but he’ll never swear at you. He was a gentlemanly, arrogant, and condescending villain.”
The artist also spoke about what he would like to have written on his tombstone, one of the options being a creepy and humorous "Alice Cooper... I'm standing behind you".
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