Alice Cooper Reveals Harrowing Battle With Crack Addiction in Upcoming Memoir

Rock legend Alice Cooper discusses his struggle with crack cocaine in the late 1970s and early 1980s in his forthcoming memoir Devil on My Shoulder, calling it "the thing that almost killed" him. Cooper details how he was misinformed that crack was not addictive when he first tried it shortly after completing alcohol rehabilitation, an experience that nearly destroyed his marriage before he recognized the need to stop. Now sober for over 40 years at age 78, Cooper continues to tour and perform collaborative shows.

Alice Cooper's forthcoming memoir documents a critical period in the rock icon's life when he turned to crack cocaine following treatment for alcoholism. Misinformed by those around him that the drug posed no addiction risk, Cooper rapidly developed a severe dependency during the early days of crack's emergence as a street drug. The addiction created profound strain on his personal life, bringing his marriage to the brink of dissolution before he and his wife mutually acknowledged the destructive trajectory they were on.

Having maintained sobriety for over four decades, Cooper has channeled his longevity and recovery into sustained creative output. Now in his late seventies, he continues an active touring schedule alongside entertainment ventures, demonstrating the possibility of career continuation and personal stability following addiction recovery.