Learned something today about Alice Cooper

ALAYMAN

ALAYMAN

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The shock rocker was raised Mormon. Kerry Livgren Of Kansas fame converted to Christ subsequent to the smash hit Dust in the Wind, which he admitted was written in a state of seeking. On a significantly more controversial scale there’s Brian Welch of Korn. Any other rocker stories of conversion to Christ you find interesting?
 
Not necessarily more "interesting," but to add to your list, a few selections from my own library:

  • Dave Mustaine, guitarist for Megadeth
  • Gary Cherone, lead singer of Extreme (and briefly Van Halen)
  • Nicko McBrain, drummer for Iron Maiden
  • John Myung, bassist for Dream Theater

And while we wouldn't call him a born again Christian, despite his image, Ozzy Osbourne is a nominal Anglican, not (as you might reasonably assume) a Satanist or atheist.
 
ALAYMAN said:
The shock rocker was raised Mormon. Kerry Livgren Of Kansas fame converted to Christ subsequent to the smash hit Dust in the Wind, which he admitted was written in a state of seeking. On a significantly more controversial scale there’s Brian Welch of Korn. Any other rocker stories of conversion to Christ you find interesting?
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I'm going to say it's hard to top Brian Welch. I heard about it briefly when it happened and haven't heard much since. I was wondering what ever became of him...

Alice Cooper is an enigma. Professing Christ and doing some of the things I've seen him do... I guess it would help if I could say I liked his music... I've never liked Alice Cooper in either my BC or AD days.
 
abcaines said:
Alice Cooper is an enigma. Professing Christ and doing some of the things I've seen him do... I guess it would help if I could say I liked his music... I've never liked Alice Cooper in either my BC or AD days.
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Cooper has always been quite open that his stage persona is just a performance--even in his BC days.
 

This puts Brian Welch's profession of faith into perspective. WARNING: copious use of expletives in the article.

Edit: After reading other more recent perspectives on Brian's faith and his relationship with his daughter, the linked article seems to come from a somewhat antagonistic POV. What's said here is the publication's interpretation of what Brian says.
 
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Quote from Wikipedia...

Cherone is very private about his personal life.

Cherone is pro-life and openly Christian. Cherone was raised Catholic.[11] He covered the Kanye West song “God Is” for Easter Sunday in 2020.[12] On March 5, 2014, he tweeted "Atheism would seem a more plausible faith if it wasn't for its first of many miraculous claims: something from nothing #Faitheism."[13] In June 1999 and again in January 2001, Cherone famously wrote a pair of open letters to Eddie Vedder in response to the latter’s support for the pro-choice movement.[14] Cherone discussed his June 1999 letter on The O’Reilly Factor.[15]
 
abcaines said:
That's news to me...
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Cherone has been pretty outspoken about his faith for years. I think every Extreme album has at least one track that I would call explicitly Christian--especially the last third of III Sides to Every Story. (I always thought "Hole Hearted" sounded very Augustinian, too, but Cherone didn't write that one.) He's also well known for an open letter he published years ago rebutting Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam's pro-choice views.
 
Ransom said:
Cherone has been pretty outspoken about his faith for years. I think every Extreme album has at least one track that I would call explicitly Christian--especially the last third of III Sides to Every Story. (I always thought "Hole Hearted" sounded very Augustinian, too, but Cherone didn't write that one.) He's also well known for an open letter he published years ago rebutting Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam's pro-choice views.
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Yup. I been reading up on him.

I didn't pay much attention to Van Halen during the Cherone era so I couldn't even comment on it. I actually thought they pulled him out of the woodwork. Then I stumbled across a video of Rest in Peace by Extreme. It's been decades since I heard this one but as the video played on, I began to remember it. Now that silly song is stuck in my ear.

Always learning something new...
 
acaines might like this one:

Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield)​

Richie Furay helped form Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Bruce Palmer in the '60s. He then founded the group Poco with Jim Messina and Timothy B. Schmit. (Talk about some heavy hitters.)

In 1984, Furay became pastor of Calvary Chapel in Broomfield, Colorado. He's kept a low profile compared to his life as a rock star: "Most of the people here know him as Pastor Richie and don't know anything about this other stuff," said Scott Sellen, a worship leader at Furay's church, in a 2011 Denver Post piece about Furay.
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voicecrying said:
acaines might like this one:
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I met him at an evangelistic crusade sponsored by North Country Chapel of Post Falls. He was there with Dennis Agajainian. I asked him all the dumb questions about his work with Buffalo Springfield...😏😂
 
Ransom said:
Not necessarily more "interesting," but to add to your list, a few selections from my own library:

  • Dave Mustaine, guitarist for Megadeth
  • Gary Cherone, lead singer of Extreme (and briefly Van Halen)
  • Nicko McBrain, drummer for Iron Maiden
  • John Myung, bassist for Dream Theater

And while we wouldn't call him a born again Christian, despite his image, Ozzy Osbourne is a nominal Anglican, not (as you might reasonably assume) a Satanist or atheist.
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hmmmm, never heard of Dream Theater before now.
 
Ransom said:
If hard rock is your thing, you owe it to yourself to give them a listen.
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Mike Portnoy is a great drummer but I tend to cringe whenever auditioning drummers in bands I played with mentioned Dream Theater as a major influence. It usually meant they overplay and were not foundationally solid. Sometimes less is more.
 
I've heard of Dream Theater but never paid much attention to them. I looked up a few of their videos... My first impression is that they listened to a lot of Rush.
 
Baptist Renegade said:
Mike Portnoy is a great drummer but I tend to cringe whenever auditioning drummers in bands I played with mentioned Dream Theater as a major influence. It usually meant they overplay and were not foundationally solid. Sometimes less is more.
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If less is more, then I'm your guy!
 
abcaines said:
I've heard of Dream Theater but never paid much attention to them. I looked up a few of their videos... My first impression is that they listened to a lot of Rush.
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Well, you wouldn't be wrong. I doubt there are too many progressive bands that haven't listened to a lot of Rush. Wouldn't surprise me to find out Dream Theater had performed 2112 in its entirety at one of their concerts.

Meanwhile, there's this:

 
Ransom said:
Well, you wouldn't be wrong. I doubt there are too many progressive bands that haven't listened to a lot of Rush. Wouldn't surprise me to find out Dream Theater had performed 2112 in its entirety at one of their concerts.

Meanwhile, there's this:

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Could you post a different link to the YouTube video? The one you posted says that it is unavailable.
 
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