The Alice Cooper Chicken Incident
With a career spanning over five decades, Alice Cooper is a legend. He is the archetype of that androgynous leather and make-up clad, horror film simulating, blood clutching and slicing humorous shock rocker. Since the band’s debut single in 1971, “I’m Eighteen”, Alice Cooper has been shooting out hit after hit and album after album to influence metal, garage, and glam rock. As the first, who exactly would Alice Cooper look up to? Well, Alice Cooper has stated on numerous occasions that he owes his inspiration to bands such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and his favorite, The Yardbirds.
more He even stated to Ozzy Osbourne that the problem with bands today is that “they had forgotten to listen to The Beatles.” In turn Alice Cooper has many fans including Bob Dylan, Groucho Marx, Mae West and Salvidor Dali.
Known for his vaudeville and horror infused stage shows involving guillotines and electric chairs as means to execute Cooper at the end of the show, it’s time to answer the age old question: Did Alice Cooper bite off the head of a chicken and drink its blood on stage? The answer is no. He stated that the “Chicken Incident” at the Toronto Rock & Roll concert in September 1969 was an accident. A chicken had somehow wandered on stage and, believing chickens could fly, Cooper picked up the bird and threw it into the audience. Instead the chicken landed in the front rows where a group of people in wheelchairs proceeded to tear it to shreds. Sorry fans, this story was a myth. But hey, at least Ozzy Osbourne actually bites heads off animals and eats them.
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