Alice Cooper has once again addressed retirement and explained what would make him quit rock. Cooper turned 78 in February.
He spoke about his stage persona and said Alice does not age. He also said appearance and energy would decide whether he keeps performing.
“Of course, Alice is a fictitious character, so he doesn’t have an age,” Cooper said. “I don’t know how old Alice is, but on stage, he’s the same age he was in 1973. And if I ever look different, if I ever gain 100 pounds, I would never play Alice.”
He then explained why he refuses to go through the motions on stage.
“If I can’t do the show with the same energy that I did then, then same thing,” Cooper said. “I’m never gonna phone it in because it wouldn’t be Alice then. I’m certainly not gonna be on a cruise ship, [singing] ‘I’m 18. And I don’t…’ It’ll be, ‘I’m 80, and I can’t find my shoes.'”
Cooper also compared himself to other veteran rock acts.
“Rock ‘n’ rollers now — Paul McCartney, The [Rolling] Stones, Rod Stewart — we were lifers,” he said. “And we’re gonna do this till we can’t do it, ’cause I can’t think of a better job.”
His latest comments fit a pattern. Cooper has dismissed retirement talk for years, and his current schedule shows he is not slowing down.
Earlier this year, he announced the Alice’s Attic tour, a run of 19 US shows across the South and Midwest. The tour opened on April 14 at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, and was named after his syndicated radio show. It featured the stage production he unveiled last fall during his co-headline tour with Judas Priest.
Cooper described touring as a basic part of his life when he announced the dates. “Touring for me is just part of life,” he said. “I’ve been touring since I was 16 years old. I’m 77 now, and I think I’m doing my best shows now.”
His calendar stays full this autumn. His memoir, Devil on My Shoulder, is due out on October 8. The UK book tour begins on October 11 in Cardiff, with special guest hosts joining him at each date. The next leg of the Alice’s Attic tour starts on October 27 at the Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida.
The memoir also covers his struggles with addiction. Cooper has said crack cocaine almost killed him in the early 1980s. He has now been sober for 43 years, since 1983, and that stretch has shaped his long career.
