By Brian Nixon —
You’ve probably heard the adage: “Don’t meet your heroes.” I’d extend that to say—don’t meet the people you respect. They may not be your personal heroes, but you admire them or their work. As French novelist Gustave Flaubert once wrote, “Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles: la dorure en reste aux mains”—“Don’t touch your idols: a little gold always rubs off.”
Yet, as I’ve learned, this isn’t always true.
Case in point: Alice Cooper.
When Cooper came through Albuquerque, I was part of a small group invited to meet him backstage. Not only was he gracious, but his wife, Sheryl, was equally nice and attentive. Both were genuine examples of kindness—something you might not expect from a rock legend known for shock, horror, and the macabre.
Yet kindness was exactly what I encountered.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, kindness is “the quality of being generous and friendly.” The root word kind comes from Old English, meaning “nature” or “family,” and early uses referred to “courtesy”—the conduct expected of nobility.
I don’t know of any royal lineage in Alice or Sheryl’s background (both are PKs—pastors’ kids), but I do know that, by their second birth—as Christians—kindness is a virtue they live out.
The Apostle Paul exhorts believers in Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians to “be kind.” In 1 Corinthians 13, he lists kindness as one of love’s first attributes. Biblically, chrēstotēs—the Greek term for kindness—conveys gentleness, humility, and compassion: a fruit of the Spirit, a tender concern for others.
During our time with Cooper, he spoke affectionately of the love of his life, Sheryl (they’ll celebrate fifty years of marriage in 2026), and of his other enjoyments—including golf. With over fifty million albums sold, one might expect bravado, but instead, humility and warmth characterized the moment. His conversation was personal, his demeanor charitable.
So, contrary to what he famously sings—“No More Mr. Nice Guy”—Alice Cooper proved to be quite the opposite: a kind soul extending courtesy and care to those around him.
While his stage persona may draw from theater and vaudeville, his life is rooted in something far deeper—the love of God in Christ. As the psalmist wrote, he is “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”
To learn more about Alice Cooper’s faith journey, see these articles from God Reports:
Alice Cooper says that there’s nothing in Scripture that says you can’t be a rock star. Of course it says nothing specific about that. But it does in principle. See 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 and Ephesians 5:11.