Legendary rock star Alice Cooper recently explained what Jesus means to him while speaking with Pastor Greg Laurie. He said, “Well, Jesus is everything. I mean, we’re not here without Him. Most people I know, young people, think Jesus Christ is a swear word. They have no idea who Jesus Christ is. He’s not preached enough, you know.”
Cooper added, “He’s the most written about character of all time, in history, and yet people go out of their way to not believe in Him.” Cooper grew up in a Christian household, but he fell away from his faith as he went deeper into the rockstar lifestyle. He told NBC News in 1996, “I grew up in a Christian household. My dad was a pastor, and he was an evangelist for 25 years. I used to go up and do missionary work with him with the Apaches in Arizona.
Cooper continued, “My grandfather was a pastor for 75 years. My wife’s father is a Baptist pastor, so I always refer to myself as the real prodigal son because I went out, and the Lord allowed me to do everything and then just started reeling me back in.” Battling a cocaine addiction, a failing marriage, and alcoholism, he eventually found redemption and freedom in Christ. Because he’s had everything the world can give, he understands why people struggle to give their lives to God.
He said, “I think it’s because they don’t want to give up their god-ship. They believe the Hollywood version of, ‘Oh, I do more good than bad.’ That kind of thing.” Cooper continued, “Wait a second. Satan’s got you right where [he] wants you, you know, to believe that. I’m the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father, but by me, those are the truest words ever spoken.”
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The rock star appears in Laurie’s recently released movie FAME, which explores the testimonies of Cooper, actor Steve McQueen, baseball player Darryl Strawberry and country singer Johnny Cash. In it, “Pastor Greg Laurie outlines the many tragedies that have resulted from the pursuit of fame, fame for money, fame for glory, fame for relevance, but something was always missing. That thing that was missing wasn’t something at all. It was someone. GOD,” Harvest’s website states.
Cooper said that both the doctrine of God’s justice and Jesus’ sacrifice helped him come to Christ. He confessed, “I came to Christ because of my fear of God. I totally understood that hell was not getting high with Jim Morrison. Hell was going to be the worst place ever. In fear, I came back to the Lord, but I went to another church, and that pastor preached the love of Christ, which, now you put the two together, and it was exactly right.”
Cooper noted that his lifestyle immediately changed after his salvation. “I knew that there had to either come a point where I either accepted Christ and started living that life or if I died in this, I was in a lot of trouble, and that’s what really motivated me,” he said. “I don’t think we accept Christ. I think we accept the fact that He accepted us.”