Vincent Damon Furnier, later and better known as Alice Cooper, was born February 4, 1948. His father was a pastor, and his grandfather was the president of a small denomination, “The Church of Jesus Christ.” As a teenager, he was very active in the church, attending worship three times a week and reading his Bible every day.
In 1964, just for the fun of it, Vincent and some friends did a humorous mock imitation of a rock and roll band for a high school talent show. Only one of the boys knew how to play an instrument, but they were very entertaining, everyone loved the act, and they won the talent show. They decided to try it out for real. So they learn to play some instruments, formed a band, and learned some songs. They had some success, became well-known locally, and even started writing a few songs. In 1969 they released their first album, and within a few years, they were one of the biggest bands in the world.
Their shows were outrageous. They pioneered a brand of rock concerts that were designed to shock audiences with bizarre and macabre antics. They became some of the worst of the “bad boys” of rock and roll, a business that was full of bad boys and girls. The group disbanded in 1975. Vincent changed his legal name to the name of the band that just disbanded, and he developed a solo career. Alice Cooper became incredibly successful, famous, and rich. Then he became addicted to drugs and alcohol and almost died. That is what many rock stars did in those days: they became successful, got on drugs, overdosed, and died.
Then Alice Cooper turned his life over to Jesus Christ and became a Christian. His conversion was sudden and dramatic. He stopped drinking and doing drugs so suddenly, that his counselor called it a miracle. This makes for a wonderful testimony.
What makes this an unusual testimony is that Alice Cooper continued his career, including his weird theatrical concert performances (though not quite as wild and evil). In a strange way that I am not sure I fully understand, he says he uses his music to open hearts and minds to question the wicked ways of the world, and, to become open to religious realities (sometimes; and the rest is ‘all part of the act’, an act that shocks and sells).
Alice Cooper is very outspoken about his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He and his wife actively practice their Christian faith. I can’t explain how this all fits together, I am not a big fan of his music, and I don’t agree with him on everything; but listen to him tell his story in the below video (31 minutes). His performances are still pretty strange, but he is clearly all in with Jesus, and Jesus most certainly did save, and change, Alice Cooper.
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In the previous video, Alice Cooper is being interviewed by Greg Laurie, an ex-hippie a little younger than Cooper, now a California pastor whose story is told in the 2023 movie “Jesus Revolution,” starring Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck, Joel Courtney as Greg Laurie, and Jonathan Roumie as Lonnie Frisbee. Take a look at the trailer:
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I Corinthians 1:27a — God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise…
Isaiah 55:6-7 — Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Matthew 4:16-17 — The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
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Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a poor sinner. Amen.
–Ancient Jesus Prayer
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