Alice Cooper, the godfather of shock rock known for his theatrical guillotines and macabre stage persona, has once again peeled back the makeup to reveal the devout believer underneath. In a revealing new interview with pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie, the legendary musician discussed his journey from the depths of addiction to a life dedicated to Jesus Christ, describing Him as “the core of everything.”
Cooper, who grew up as a preacher’s son but drifted into a whirlwind of substance abuse during his rise to fame, credits his sobriety in the 1980s as the turning point that led him back to the church. Speaking to Laurie, Cooper addressed the phenomenon of successful artists struggling with emptiness despite having the world at their feet.
“I think if you don’t have the Lord in your life, you’re always gonna be trying to fill that hole with something,” Cooper explained. “It’s either gonna be dr*gs or it’s gonna be Ferraris or it’s gonna be houses or wives or this or that or fame, and you’re never going to achieve it. Because there’s that inner thing of us that when we’re born of reconnecting with God that’s there.”
The rocker noted that modern society often chases fads—from Buddhism to “vegetarian goat yoga”—in a desperate search for meaning, often looking to the Lord as a last resort. According to Cooper, this hesitation stems from a reluctance to surrender control.
“People do not want to give up their God self, the self that they control,” he said. “I control my life. Even people that go to church… But you given yourself fully. And that’s where the fulfillment comes from.”
Cooper illustrated this point by highlighting the dissatisfaction often found at the pinnacle of wealth. “The most miserable people I knew were billionaires, because they had everything and they still did not, they didn’t have that fulfillment yet,” he observed. He pointed to the current trend of billionaires traveling to space as a bizarre extension of this search: “‘I’ll go into space. Maybe that’s where I’ll find it.’ Isn’t that weird? It’s like a James Bond movie.”
When pressed on who Jesus Christ is to him personally, Cooper offered a profound definition. “He’s the core of everything. He’s life itself. He’s the light,” he stated. “I mean, if we don’t all revolve around Christ, then we’re way out in space somewhere. He draws you in… It’s something that happens to your heart where all of a sudden you realize who this is and you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m not worthy of this.'”
Contrary to the belief that faith and rock and roll are incompatible, Cooper revealed that he feels his musical career is part of a divine plan. “He didn’t say, ‘And now that you’re a Christian, you can no longer be in rock and roll,'” Cooper recalled. “His plan was, ‘Now you’re a Christian, go be in a rock and roll band. But follow me. Be Alice Cooper.'”
This mission has manifested in unexpected ways. Cooper noted that songs like “Hey Stoopid” have generated emails from fans saying the lyrics saved them from suic*de. He also recalled how his heavier albums, Brutal Planet and Dragontown, surprisingly found a home in Christian bookstores because of their underlying messages about salvation and judgment.
“At one point we did an album called Brutal Planet and [another one called] Dragontown… And then Christian kids started listening to it and going, ‘This is a Christian album. It’s talking about how this is a brutal planet,'” Cooper explained.
He continued: “That album, and The Last Temptation, which was another album about that… [Those albums] were being sold in Christian bookstores. And my record company couldn’t figure out why… Two or three of my songs were used in choirs — a song like ‘I Am Made Of You‘, ‘Salvation‘. And these stories, it’s a murder mystery, but there’s a song called ‘Salvation‘, how the murderer’s going, ‘Is there any chance for salvation?’ Well, that’s the song that, so you did all this horrible things, but, yeah, there is a chance for salvation.”
“I always try to have some lyric pointing towards Christ,” Cooper concluded, adding that while he values his career, it is not his top priority. “If I were gonna put what’s important to me in order, Alice Cooper would be about fifth.”
