Newly elected Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Famer Alice Cooper is 63 today. Born Vincent Damon Furnier, Alice is the son of a Detroit Baptist minister. In 1970, Alice Cooper flipped hippie ideals on their head and astonished the world, "driving a stake through the heart of the Love Generation," as the group's namesake put it.

It's arguable that without Alice Cooper, there might never have been KISS, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Motley Crue, Slipknot or Rob Zombie... maybe not even David Bowie, or at least not Ziggy Stardust. Heavy Metal took the imagery, punk took the tunes, rock and pop took the showmanship and fans the world over fell in love with the macabre sense of humor. Amazingly, those fans have included legends as diverse as Peter Sellers, Groucho Marx, Salvador Dali and Bob Dylan who proclaimed Alice as an "overlooked songwriter."

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