Alice Cooper: 'We broke down barriers'

Alice Cooper has said that his band paved the way for the likes of Marilyn Manson and Slipknot.

The singer told Metro that his group had an effect on his contemporaries and groups still around today.

Cooper said: "After I started having hits I saw lots of bands who'd been Alice Cooper-ised; Kiss came out after us, even David Bowie before Alice Cooper was a mime and a folk singer.

"Then, when we broke down the barriers, we said you could do music and theatrics at the same time, which opened the door for acts like Marilyn Manson and Slipknot."

Asked if he would be adding more gore to the Halloween dates of his 'Theatre of Death' tour at London's Roundhouse this weekend, Cooper added: "There's lots of that anyway. It's always been a rock'n'roll, horror and comedy show - 28 songs and I get killed four times.

"I like horror movies that are over-the-top gory, that's the essence of what I do. I like setting an audience up, giving them a good scare and a good laugh, but it's all based around the songs. Without the 14 top 40 hits, there'd be no cake to put the icing on."