In a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar, Kip Winger talked about his experience playing for Alice Cooper and the disappointment he felt. Explaining how he was able to tour with Alice Cooper, Winger said:
“I knew more about Alice than he could remember. I was a huge Alice Cooper fan, huge Dennis Dunway bass-playing fan. I mean, my biggest influence were Mel Schacher from Grand Funk, Dennis Dunway, and Dale Peterson of James Gang. And so I knew all that Alice material. I came up, met Kane Roberts – who was the guitar player for Alice at the time. Kane actually suggested that I should mention to Alice about that I would be available to tour. And I was lucky enough to get the call.”
Kip Winger then explained the disappointment he felt about his Alice Cooper experience. He continued:
“Ironically, they misspelled my name on that record. It’s Kip W-r-i-n-g-e-r. It was amazingly disappointing to be on the Alice Cooper record with my name spelled wrong… But funny. Anyway, hugely influential on me. I learned a lot from Alice. I owe Alice a lot. A great person to learn from when you’re just a kid getting into it back then. Especially — this was all like pre-internet. So, very lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”
Kip Winger played bass for Alice Cooper on three studio albums during the 1980s.
Why Did Kip Winger Leave Alice Cooper?
But earlier this year, we found out that Kip Winger left Alice Cooper not because of any disappointment. In an appearance on the Chuck Shute Podcast, Kip Winger explained why he quit working with Alice Cooper. He said:
“I just felt like once a side man, always a side man. It was a great opportunity, but I felt like that was such a cushy gig that it would be very easy to get super comfortable and never jump. My main thing was writing music, so I wanted to write and perform my own music, and that was never going to happen in that camp; having said that, I mean Alice is the most generous, awesome individual ever.”
The rocker also revealed that Alice Cooper supported his decision to leave. He continued:
“He actually encouraged me to go, so it was like he gave me his full-on blessing. It really just came down to just, that, first and foremost, I wanted to write songs and perform my own sh*t.”
Kip Winger And Alice Cooper Reunion
On June 27, 2022, songwriter Desmond Child gave a special concert called ‘Desmond Child Rocks The Parthenon’ at the Odeon Herodes Atticus, the Roman theater in Athens. At the event, Desmond’s longtime collaborators Alice Cooper and Kip Winger performed together again after many years. The special concert featured Sakis Rouvas, Rita Wilson (Tom Hank’s wife), Bonnie Tyler and many other celebrities. For this special concert to honor the history and culture of Greece, Child said:
“This special concert is held in support of the reunification of the Parthenon sculptures in Greece, to raise awareness of the world public and to raise funds for the return of the Parthenon sculptures to their homes.”
You can watch Kip Winger and Alice Cooper’s performance of ‘Poison’ from Desmond Child Rocks Partheon concert below.
