Alice Cooper ‘Put Money Aside’ for His Crew During the Pandemic

Alice Cooper set money aside for his crew at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he recently explained it as a decision all responsible bands should have made.

After all, Cooper’s often known to lend a helping hand, as underscored in a photo of the 73-year-old singer feeding children at a community potluck that went viral.

But last year, foreseeing the longevity of the pandemic — the ongoing global health crisis that initially kept touring acts off the road — the “School’s Out” rocker made it so that his crew members would be looked after monetarily, regardless of state-provided assistance.

Cooper told Forbes last week (Dec. 21), “When we saw this coming, we put money aside for our crew. … We put money aside as a backup for them. Because we knew that their unemployment would run out, you know? And then they’d have something to go to. I think all responsible bands did that. Hopefully.”

He continued, “Because these are people we live with. We work with them every day. The guys that run the stage are as important as the guys that play guitar. So we made sure that everybody was covered. And that was really important. Hey, we thought this thing was gonna last a month! 18 months?! Unreal.”

Cooper, who contracted COVID-19 last year and lost 15 pounds as a result, released the album Detroit Stories, his first studio effort in four years, back in February.

“We did the album right before the pandemic hit,” the musician explained. “I went to Detroit. I said I wanted to do a rock album, a full-out rock album. You can’t do that … in Nashville, you can’t do it in L.A. and you can’t do it in New York. The only place you can do a real hard rock album is Detroit. That’s the home of hard rock.”

Alice Cooper used to hold an annual holiday party for underprivileged youth at his since-closed restaurant, Cooper’stown, as shown in a 2013 update on his website. He now hosts the Christmas Pudding Fundraiser. He’ll mount an American tour next year.

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Author: showrunner