4 of Alice Cooper’s Wildest On-Stage Moments

Alice Cooper isn’t called the “Grandfather of Shock Rock” for no reason. His music is memorable enough on its own in the worlds of hard rock and metal, but his on-stage antics are what really made a name for him. Let’s take a look at just a few of Alice Cooper’s wildest moments!

1. Cold Ethyl

It isn’t exactly common for a rock star to pen an ode to necrophilia, but for Alice Cooper, it’s more or less expected. Whenever Cooper performs this song, it’s often accompanied by a life-size mannequin meant to represent the dearly departed Ethyl. Thankfully, the stand-in doll tends to look very cheap and not entirely realistic.

2. The Guillotine

Out of all of Alice Cooper’s wildest moments, this one is pretty wacky. It’s also a staple at his live performances. The “guillotine” that Cooper will roll out at his concerts was originally designed by the late James Randi, and it’s more or less a very convincing prop guillotine. According to Randi himself, quite a few safety precautions went into crafting the tour prop so that it would be both convincing and as un-deadly as possible.

“He wanted to be very sure he didn’t lose his head before the end of the tour,” said Randi.

3. Throwing Chickens

This on-stage antic from the 1970s landed Cooper in a bit of hot water. At one particular 1969 show in Canada, a member of the crowd threw a live chicken onto the stage. Cooper picked it up and tossed it back into the audience, expecting the bird to fly away.

Unfortunately, it didn’t. The bird was torn to pieces by the end of the set by the wild crowd. Cooper later said that he regretted the whole incident.

4. The Electric Chair

Why stop at a guillotine? Why not bring out another device capable of execution? After all, that’s Cooper’s whole gimmick. The shock-rock icon brought this bad boy out during the Love It To Death Tour, and the very convincing death penalty tool wasn’t just used for fun.

Cooper himself said that the performance involving the prop was a protest of sorts against the “barbaric” act of corporal punishment used in America. It’s quite a memorable spectacle, and Cooper has brought the chair on tour a few times since.

Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive

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