Legendary rock icon Alice Cooper recently shared his candid thoughts on the rapid rise of artificial intelligence within the music industry. During a May 21 appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk“, the veteran frontman expressed deep skepticism regarding both the creative limits and the murky financial implications of A.I.-generated art.
Speaking with host Eddie Trunk, Cooper detailed a hypothetical scenario to highlight his concerns over authenticity and royalty distributions when technology is used to manufacture a fictional artist.
“Well, here’s the deal. I could right now create a rock star. I could create a Yungblud, a guy that’s really appealing, rock, tough, cool looking. I could create a guy named — I don’t care — Starboy or whatever, and make him look great. He doesn’t actually exist. I could tell the A.I., ‘I want him to sound like Tom Petty and Freddie Mercury. And here’s what the album’s about. Write the songs.’ Okay, now you’ve got a rock star that doesn’t exist, and you’ve got an album that doesn’t exist except in this world. And what happens if it sells? Who gets the money? A.I. wrote the songs. This guy had nothing to do with the creativity of the songs. So who’s gonna get that money? They have to write the check to the A.I.? That’s gonna happen. You watch that happen, because the guy that just suggested what it should be did not write the songs,” he explained (via Blabbermouth).
Cooper further stressed that while an algorithm can mimic structures and string words together, it fundamentally lacks the actual human experiences necessary to create genuinely moving music.
“If I could tell it to write a song about Eddie Trunk joining The Rolling Stones, they would write you a great song — except for one thing. The one thing it can’t do — it’s never been in love. It’s never had its heart broken. It’s never been angry. It’s never been happy. It only knows words. And it only knows how to put words together. But it has no emotion. It has no heart, it has no feel, has no soul to it, and that’s where it dies right there. That’s why you could put an album out and you listen to it and go… You know that it doesn’t come from any root inside, any heart, any experience. When they get that, then I think… I don’t know what’s going to happen to music,” he concluded.
Beyond his commentary on modern technology, the iconic musician is currently preparing to look back on his own six-decade career. Cooper‘s highly anticipated definitive autobiography, Devil On My Shoulder, is scheduled for publication on October 8, 2026, through Ebury Spotlight.
To support the book’s release, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee will embark on an exclusive eight-date speaking tour across the U.K. Each evening will feature Cooper engaging in a detailed conversation with a special guest moderator, followed by an interactive Q&A session, giving fans a rare, stripped-back look at the man behind the legendary stage persona.
Earlier this month, Alice Cooper returned with the reissues of Along Came A Spider and Welcome 2 My Nightmare , two chapters from the twisted playbook of shock rock’s original showman.
Official dates for the U.K. book tour:
- Oct. 11 – Cardiff New Theatre
- Oct. 12 – Cambridge Corn Exchange
- Oct. 13 – London Palladium
- Oct. 14 – Brighton Dome
- Oct. 16 – Manchester Opera House
- Oct. 17 – Stockton Globe
- Oct. 19 – Glasgow Pavilion Theatre
- Oct. 20 – Wolverhampton Civic Hall
