Alice Cooper is primarily known for his music. However, what folks also know Cooper for are his theatrics. Cooper now, and in his heyday, was the epitome of an entertainer. He has never been one just to play music. No, he puts on an epic concert that is arguably more comparable to a Broadway show than it is to a basic rock ‘n’ roll concert. These on-stage theatrics benefit him immensely, but they also once did him quite a bit of harm.
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If you’ve been to or seen an Alice Cooper performance on video, you know the man doesn’t stand idle in front of the microphone center stage. In his performances, particularly in his younger years, he’s constantly climbing on scaffolding, jumping on and off platforms, and generally, just utilizing every single inch of the stage. Well, on this day, June 23, 1975, Cooper did just that, and consequently, he fell from quite a height and broke six ribs as well as received a concussion. Though, like the great showman he is, the show went on.
Alice Cooper Recalled The Fall as “Such a Silly Thing”
Alice Cooper’s harrowing injury transpired during his stop in Vancouver, Canada, while on his Welcome To My Nightmare tour. Following the accident, Cooper told the Associated Press, per UCR, “I was using a toy box as a prop and it fell over and knocked me off the stage. I cracked my ribs and hit my head on the cement floor. I put my hand on my head, and it felt like a baseball. But we came back on in that old ‘show-must-go-on’ bit.”
According to several other reports, when Cooper returned to the stage, he was wearing a bandage on his head. Furthermore, while attempting to perform with the injury, he passed out and was then rushed to the hospital. Despite the severity of these injuries, Cooper continued to perform his high-flying and risky theatrics. Matter of fact, Cooper would suffer a similar injury years later in 2008, as he broke two of his ribs again during a rehearsal for a show in Las Vegas.
This injury could have easily changed the future for Cooper. Evidently, it didn’t, because to this day, Cooper still puts on a show that features his signiture theatrical style. Frankly, it seems the only thing that could stop Cooper from performing in this way is retirement or something far worse.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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