Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
The musician picked up the essentials of creating an anthem from another iconic artist and used that insight on one of his most famous songs.
Alice Cooper credits another rock legend for teaching him what makes a true anthem.
In a recent appearance on the Rock & Roll High School podcast with Pete Ganbarg, the 77-year-old rocker reflected on crafting his 1972 hit School’s Out, calling The Who a key influence.
“We understood what an anthem was after hearing My Generation,” Cooper said, referencing the 1965 classic. He explained that the song endures because it speaks directly to listeners: “It’s an anthem because 100 years from now, a 16-year-old kid hears that song and goes, ‘Oh, he’s talking about me!’”
Inspired by that idea, Cooper set out to capture a universal feeling for his own song. Reflecting on the origin of School’s Out, he said, “Everyone hated school. We thought, if we could capture the last three minutes of the last day before summer vacation, it would make a joyous song.”
The track went on to become a defining glam rock anthem of the early 1970s and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.
Cooper also spoke with PEOPLE in January 2025 about how life in rock has evolved for him since getting sober in 1983.
“When I drank, it was always whiskey and Coca-Cola. I was basically the Dean Martin of rock ‘n’ roll — there was always a drink in my hand,” he said.
He recalled that after achieving sobriety, friends who could drink in moderation would often go out of their way to avoid alcohol around him. “I realized it’s different with other people. They can have a drink or two and stop, but when I was drinking, it was always one more, and one more, and one more,” he said.
Cooper added that he has “absolutely no desire to ever put alcohol or drugs in my mouth again,” and emphasized that abstinence hasn’t hurt his rock credibility. “People have never come up to me and said, ‘Wow, what a wimp.’ Sobriety doesn’t go against the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll. Being a rocker is an attitude — you don’t have to be drunk or high to be one.”
