Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier in Detroit, Michigan on February 4, 1948. He was born to Ella Mae and Ether Moroni Furnier, and his father had been a preacher in the Church of Jesus Christ. Cooper moved to Phoenix, Arizona with his family during high school and kept good grades, eventually earning admission to the University of Arizona, University of Colorado and University of California at Berkeley. He declined all of those offers and recalls his high school days in his autobiography “Alice Cooper: Golf Monster” saying:“I wasn’t exactly a brainiac. I was skinny but athletic and stylish. I didn’t do well in class except for English literature, art and physical education. I was worthless with anything that had to do with science or math.” Alice’s first break in the music business came after his high school band the Spiders scored a number one hit on local radio with a track called “Don’t Blow Your Mind” in 1966. Cooper chose the group name “Alice Cooper” in 1968, believing they needed a gimmick to move forward.