ALICE COOPER: 'LEMMY's Idea Of Not Drinking Was Not Drinking A Bottle Of Whiskey Each Night'

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper, whose HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES supergroup has paid tribute to Lemmy and MOTÖRHEAD by performing "Ace Of Spades", was asked by Kerrang! magazine what his personal tribute to Lemmy would be. He responded: "If he were alive, Lemmy would certainly be a Vampire. He'd probably be our bass player. All of us knew Lemmy, on different levels, because he played with us so many times — everyone in the band had done tours with Lemmy. He was sort of a journeyman.

"I quit drinking 37 years ago, but he came to me once and said, 'Alice, I quit drinking,'" Alice continued. "And he had a drink in his hand. I was sitting there going, 'That's great — and that must be Coca-Cola?' He said, 'No, there's a little whiskey in there.' His idea of not drinking was not drinking a bottle of whiskey each night. Maybe just five or six drinks."

Cooper also talked about the advice he would give to emerging musicians who are pressured by a youth culture that has grown used to seeing outrageous, excessive behavior.

"I mean, I stopped drinking 37 years ago, because I got up one morning and threw up blood," he said. "I knew that it's not smart to join the 27 Club" — refrring to a list consisting mostly of popular musicians, artists, or actors who died at age 27 — "but my doctor said, 'If you really want to join them, just keep doing what you're doing.' I got the point. If you look at guys like Steven Tyler and Iggy [Pop] and myself — all the guys that are still here touring — it's all because we got a hold of our addictions and decided we'd rather make 20 more albums than be in a cold grave somewhere."

Cooper recently announced his spring 2020 tour plans. He will extend the "Ol' Black Eyes Is Back" show, which debuted in summer 2019 to the delight of fans, into the new year. The spring 2020 leg of the tour kicks off on April 1 in Peterborough, Ontario and runs through April 22 in Portland, Oregon. These dates will feature special guest Lita Ford.

This past September, Cooper released the "Breadcrumbs" EP via earMUSIC. The effort is Cooper's tribute to the garage rock heroes from his former hometown, Detroit. The EP features six brand new recordings and is available on digital and as limited and numbered 10-inch vinyl — with only 20,000 copies worldwide — sold at very special price.

Joining Cooper on the recordings are MC5's Wayne Kramer, jazz singer Paul Randolph, former GRAND FUNK RAILROAD member Mark Farner, ex-DETROIT WHEELS drummer Johnny "Bee" Badanjek and Mick Collins.

The EP includes covers of Bob Seger's 1966 single "East Side Story", MC5's "Sister Anne", Suzi Quatro's "Your Mamma Won't Like Me" and MITCH RYDER AND THE DETROIT WHEELS' "Devil With A Blue Dress".

Cooper's next full-length album is due in 2020.