Audio By Carbonatix
What does heavy rock represent in 2025? Power? Rebellion? Survival?
For Alice Cooper and Rob Halford, it’s all of the above.
Beyond that, it’s about staying true to themselves and to their fans, while continuing to evolve. With more than a century of combined experience in music, Cooper and Halford have long since earned their crowns: Cooper as the Godfather of Shock Rock, and Halford as the Metal God.
Their current co-headlining tour and respective new albums are proof that this isn’t a nostalgia act. They’re still creating and performing with the same fire that launched their careers decades ago. And you’ll get to see them both in action at their co-headlining North American tour on October 22 at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre.
Judas Priest’s 19th studio album, “Invincible Shield,” released in 2024, delivers what fans love: thunderous riffs, sharp precision and Halford’s still-formidable voice. Halford says that a new album is “always in the back of the band’s mind,” which shows just how forward-looking Priest remains. Meanwhile, Cooper returned to his roots this past July with “The Revenge of Alice Cooper,” reuniting with original bandmates Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith. With the help of technology, even the late Glen Buxton appears. It is the first full album the original Alice Cooper group has made together since 1973’s “Muscle of Love.”
When asked by USA Today why “revenge,” Cooper’s response was, “We were always the underdogs. The press said this band will last for one year; they’re great onstage, but not good musicians. … The revenge is that 50 years later we do an album and none of us knew what this was going to be, and it turned out we made a really good 1975-type record.”
Jim Louvau
With their overlapping careers and mutual admiration as elder statesmen in rock, a full tour featuring both Halford and Cooper has been a long time coming. Halford recalls: “Actually, we toured with them way, way back on his Operation Rock & Roll tour. Maybe ’91? And we’ve done some festivals, shows in Europe, some concerts at Solid Rock (Cooper’s foundation) here in the Valley. So one-off shows, but never a tour in decades. I’m in awe every time I talk to Cooper; I was working in retail when ‘School’s Out’ was playing nonstop.”
Of course, the idea that Cooper and Halford ended up influencing each other over decades is very possible with such boundary pushers.
“Alice Cooper has always been great straight-ahead hard rock, with a touch of horror and maybe even a little Broadway theatricality. We’re sort of a dark vaudeville,” says Cooper. “Everybody is influenced by everybody one way or another. The common denominator between both bands is that we ‘bring it’ every single show. You can’t just phone in an Alice Cooper or Judas Priest show. Every night, both bands are at the top of their game. Rob tried to get me to wear a big white beard and shave my head, and I said, ‘Well, I’ll think about it (I never thought about it).’”
This fall, they finally brought the dual energy to fans with a co-headlining tour spanning 22 cities and kicked off on September 16. Stops include Toronto, Los Angeles, and the highly anticipated Phoenix, of course.
Word on the street is that it’s full of deep cuts and live debuts, including a “colossal” version of “War Pigs”: “You get Ozzy singing a line, then I’m singing a line, and Ozzy singing a line, and I’m singing a line. It’s the first ever time in my entire life that I’ve been able to do a duet with Ozzy, and I’m so eternally grateful and blessed that I was able to do that,” Halford has told Full Metal Jackie.
The tour feels almost inevitable when considering their similarities. Both have become synonymous with theatrical stage shows, visually stimulating lyrics, leather-and-stud-heavy style, raucous props (like Halford’s on-stage motorcycle and Cooper’s guillotine) and raw human emotion.
In addition? They’re next-door neighbors.
Halford says with a laugh, “I could walk to his house. After the Phoenix gig, we’ll probably yell from each of our houses: ‘How amazing was that? Sleep well!’”
What fans might not expect is how down-to-earth both men are when the makeup and stage gear come off. They have more in common than just metal. Both live in Phoenix. Both are sober, deeply reflective, and increasingly interested in the idea of legacy. When they get together, Halford says they often talk about family and everyday things, not work. “I know what he does for a living, he knows the ins and outs of what I do, you know?” he admits. “When you go to dinner with a friend from work, you often don’t want to discuss work!”
Cooper is famously obsessed with golf. Halford, not so much. Halford enjoys cooking and jokes that his claim to fame is sloppy turkey tacos. He also once cooked a Thanksgiving turkey for a PNT reporter during an interview in the 1980s. Alice, on the other hand, has a tuna casserole recipe that has gone viral online.
The domestic side of these icons doesn’t take away from their impact. If anything, it amplifies it. There’s a long-standing stereotype that hard rock and heavy metal are fueled by chaos, addiction, and rebellion. But Cooper and Halford have rewritten that narrative. Both are open about their sobriety, and both credit it for their continued relevance and well-being.
Jim Louvau
Halford, who has been clean and sober since 1986, often speaks about how getting clean saved his life. He says that his Christian upbringing means more to him now than it did when he was younger. “If I hadn’t gotten clean, I’d be dead,” he has stated. Cooper, too, is a devout Christian who has been sober for nearly four decades. His Solid Rock Foundation has become a staple in the Phoenix area, offering after-school programs in music, dance and art for teens. It’s a place where creatively curious young people can explore their passions in a safe and nurturing environment.
“I tell kids up front: There are five guys in a band and 30 people who run the show. And I couldn’t do it without them,” Cooper said to this journalist in a 2020 interview. “If you end up being a roadie or technician, that’s a pretty good living. … They realize they are bringing art into the world, and that’s important.”
I’ve interviewed both men multiple times over the years, and what stands out most is how their values have deepened with time. During the pandemic, I interviewed Cooper and his wife, Sheryl, and mentioned that I had just found out I was pregnant with a boy. They both lit up with excitement and started offering baby name suggestions. “Cooper,” of course, was high on their list. They had just welcomed a grandchild at the time.
That same year, I interviewed Halford about his memoir, “Confess.” He spoke from the Phoenix home he shares with longtime partner Thomas, who he’s been with for more than three decades (according to Consequence of Sound, they made their marriage official last year by the cactus on their property).
During our Zoom interview, I had my two-month-old son on my lap, and Halford cooed and even sang a few bars. Now, his great-niece is seven years old. “They absorb music in the most beautiful way, like we all do, but particularly when you’re that age, and you’re discovering music, and how it makes you feel,” he reflects.
It’s this sense of connection and continuity that defines their current tour. Each night, the crowd includes lifelong fans and new generations discovering metal for the first time. Grandparents, parents, and teens all headbang together. The music still hits hard, but it also resonates emotionally.
“When it comes to both my and Alice’s music, our fans can go, ‘oh, that’s me; I relate to that,’” Halford says. “That’s happened to me in my life, or I know that’s happened to somebody else in my life. It’s very, very strong, powerful, relevant, potent.”
That relevance comes from more than just loud guitars and pyrotechnics. Their latest music is sometimes politically charged, sometimes spiritually reflective, and sometimes just gloriously loud. But it never feels forced. Their longevity isn’t about keeping up with trends. It’s about staying honest. They aren’t trying to act young. They’re proving that metal doesn’t belong to the young alone. It belongs to anyone who lives it with heart.
“The greatest thing about traveling and touring with a co-headlining band is that when it’s right, both bands can be friends,” adds Cooper. “Lack of ego and a dark sense of humor in both bands make touring together a pleasure. And I think we challenge each other to be our best every night. There’s still always that big adrenaline hit when the crowd roars at the beginning of the show.”
Halford sums it up best: “Of what our music does through the generations, much like Priest is doing, much like Alice is doing. Like a heavy metal Partridge Family.”
He laughs, but there’s truth there. The fire and fury are still alive, but now they come with wisdom, perspective, and maybe even a good recipe now and then. Or as Halford said, thinking about the thrill of the stage and the power of connection: “The way you kind of complete yourself as an artist when you’re standing in front of your glorious fans that give you this life.”
That’s what heavy rock represents today. Not just noise or nostalgia, but enduring meaning. And Alice Cooper and Rob Halford are still writing the soundtrack for it.
