Alice Cooper's wife, Sheryl, kids keep the faith

This article was originally published on March 3, 2011.

When Sheryl Cooper met her husband-to-be, the 18-year-old dance student barely knew anything about the world of rock and roll, much less something about a leather-clad singer using a woman's name.

Fellow students at a Los Angeles academy had told her in 1975 about auditions for Alice Cooper's global Welcome to My Nightmare tour, and Sheryl cracked them up by replying, "Wow. Alice Cooper. Who is she?"

Trained as a ballerina, Sheryl explains, "I knew everything about Bach, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, Mozart - but nothing about rock and roll.

"I could tell you who the Beatles were, and that was about it."

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Yet, a year later, after winning one of two dancing jobs on the concert tour, Sheryl was married to the man with whom she has built a partnership that she would stack up against any other, despite some rough spots involving Alice's long-rehabbed alcohol abuse. The Detroit-born singer's million-selling career hit a pinnacle when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sheryl sees Alice's pioneering work to meld theater and rock as a prime factor for that induction.

"What he did with the Welcome to My Nightmare tour was the first time that anybody had ever seen the marriage of Broadway and rock," she says. "Disney did the costumes. To have dancers backing the band up was unprecedented."

The pair's 12-month courtship began one night on that tour, when musicians and dancers gathered in Alice's hotel suite to eat pizza and watch horror movies after a concert.

"We were engaged in a conversation that was so much fun, I didn't notice everyone slowly leaving the room," Sheryl says.

When she told the star she needed to go, he replied, "Well, aren't you going to kiss me goodnight?"

After a brief hesitation followed by a more passionate kiss than she expected, Sheryl recalls, "I don't know how I found my way back to my room. I was careening off the walls, thinking, 'Oh, am I in trouble.' "

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The home front 

The were married in 1976 in Acapulco, Mexico, officiated by their two clergymen fathers, and have three children - Calico, a dancer and actress living in Los Angeles; Dash, an Arizona State University grad; and Sonora, who attended Arcadia High School in Phoenix.

"I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect marriage," says Sheryl, a brunette who has retained her dancer's physique. "But ours is probably one of the best I've ever seen."

They've raised their family in a home in Paradise Valley that has been expanded from "a nice little 2,000-square-foot bachelor pad," as Sheryl describes it, to a sprawling setup three times as large that's perfect for parties tied to church or charitable events.

"We have a bit of a view, and you feel like you are tucked away in the desert," she says. "At night, the stars come right down to the horizon because there are no streetlights."

On any given day, the Cooper home can be a busy place as Alice heads out to play golf (nearly every day when he is in town); and Sheryl fires up her candy-apple-red Dodge Durango and drives off to teach a dance class.

Sheryl and Alice are so active during the day that they tend to be homebodies after the sun goes down.

"A great time for me is smashed up against each other on the couch, watching something great (on TV)," Sheryl says. "Sounds pretty wonderful to me."

When the pair go out, they may grab some sushi at the Kona Grill at Scottsdale Fashion Square or have dinner at Tarbell's in Phoenix (operated by close friend Mark Tarbell), before catching a movie.

Family first 

Sheryl is proud that her children steered clear of trouble in their teen years and that Calico and Dash are pursuing career goals. (Dash has played in a band called Runaway Phoenix, but he's taking a break as he tries to land an internship with the Phoenix Coyotes.)

"Our kids have an intact family, the security of two parents who are honestly sick in love with each other," Sheryl says. "There's a trickle-down effect."

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Calico, who appears in "Thirty Proof Coil" as well as 2007's "Rolling," says, "We were well-adjusted because we weren't spoiled. Everything we got, we had to earn."

Dash says, "I never let it get to me that it was such a big hype that my dad was kind of a celebrity."

He recalls seeing his father on television at age 6 and his mother explaining what Alice did for a living.

"Once my mom explained that to me, that's how I've felt about it for the rest of my life. I thought, 'Your dad is a lawyer, your dad is a plumber, and this is just what my dad does.' "

Calico adds, "We were raised to respect his fans. He told us, 'Those people are the reason you go to college, drive a car, have nice clothes, because they like my music and buy my records.' "

Calico saw those legions of followers when she danced with her father's touring show for several years starting at age 16.

"He is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame because he has die-hard fans all over this planet. It's not one area; it's everywhere."

Dash adds, "My dad's induction should have happened sooner, with the way he paved the way for so many other things. I am super-proud of him."

Keeping the faith

Strong religious faith has kept the Cooper family close, with all its members active through the years at Camelback Bible Church in Paradise Valley.

"Alice and Sheryl are so committed to each other and to their kids," says Lisa Savale, one of Sheryl's closest friends. "I think part of that is their faith."

Sheryl and Lisa, whose husband, Chuck, plays golf with Alice, co-founded a women's aerobic ministry at Camelback Bible Church. It involves several dance and exercise classes each week, with Sheryl teaching a Friday class called Dance It Off.

She operated a 500-student school called Destiny Dance International from 2003 to 2007, then closed it to teach a weekly class at a Scottsdale studio and devote more time to Solid Rock, a non-profit group co-founded by Alice that serves inner-city teens in Arizona. "Solid Rock started a summer program with Neighborhood Ministries, at 19th Avenue and Van Buren, and we had 400 kids show up for our dance camp," Sheryl says.

Alice adds, "It's right in the middle of gangland. They have recreation and sports like basketball. The gangbangers' little brothers and sisters go there. It's kind of off-limits to gangs."

Happy ending

Sheryl intervened to get Alice away from his own bad influences decades ago.

Her new husband was up to his eyebrows in the rock-star lifestyle in 1976.

"There was a period where I always had a beer in my hand," Alice says. "Then my wife grabbed me by the ear and said, 'We're going to do something about that.' "

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After two stints in rehab in 1976 and 1979, Alice made a commitment to sobriety that stuck in 1983.

"There was a point where I did just about everything you could do in the world of rock and roll," he says. "You get to a point where you've bought everything you could want - cars, houses - you're still not satisfied. You ask, 'What else is out there?' "

Alice has never attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and credits God for abruptly eliminating his desire to drink.

His struggle with alcohol and the challenges of remaining active in the music business have made the pair's marriage only stronger.

"Someone once said, 'Never waste a good crisis,' " Sheryl says. "There is so much opportunity and wisdom to be gained from it.

"Marriage is work, but work can be fun. And the rewards are immense."

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