Alice Cooper celebrates his 75th birthday this Saturday.
Born Vincent Furnier in Detroit on February 4th, 1948, his family moved to Phoenix when he was a teenager. He formed his first band, The Earwigs, at Cortez High School, and in his yearbook he wrote that his ambition was to become "a million record seller."
The Earwigs soon became The Spiders before settling on Alice Cooper since it sharply contrasted with their hard rock sound and image. Vince became the band's namesake.
"School's Out" was his first Top 10 hit in 1972; while 1989's "Poison" was his last, with many other notable songs in between, including "I'm Eighteen," "Elected," "Billion Dollar Babies" and "Welcome to My Nightmare."
He's been with his manager Shep Gordon since the start of his career -- they have a handshake agreement -- and he's been married to Sheryl Goddard, a member of his band, since 1976. They have three children.
A longtime sports fan and participant, he titled his 2007 memoir Alice Cooper, Golf Monster. He took up golf to overcome his addiction to alcohol and plays six days a week.
Cooper is very active in his Arizona community, having started the Solid Rock Teen Center, which provides free music, dance, arts and vocational training programs for those between 12 and 20 in Phoenix and Mesa.
A yearly fixture on the tour market, he splits his time between his band and the Hollywood Vampires, which he formed with Joe Perry and Johnny Depp. The Hollywood Vampires was the name of the drinking club he belonged to in the early and mid-'70s along with Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Micky Dolenz and Harry Nilsson.
He's had a syndicated radio show, Nights with Alice Cooper, since 2004, and the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
Cooper starts another tour on April 29th in Youngstown, Ohio.