Jul. 30, 2014

Dick Wagner, Alice Cooper friend, guitarist and collaborator, dies at 71

Today the world of Rock N Roll lost one of it’s greatest heros. Guitarist Dick Wagner, Alice’s collaborator and friend left this world this morning.

Alice still speaks fondly about writing with Dick, not just the hits but also “Might As Well Be On Mars” which Alice considers to be one of his favorite songs.  Together with guitarist Steve Hunter, Dick had a very strong influence on the sound of Alice’s early solo career. The pair also played in Lou Reed’s legendary “Rock N Roll Animal” band.

Dick had a hand in writing some memorable and important pieces in Alice’s career including “Welcome To My Nightmare”, “Only Women Bleed”, “Department of Youth”, “I Never Cry”, “Go To Hell”, “You And Me”, “It’s Hot Tonight”, “How You Gonna See Me Now” and “From The Inside”.

Prior to recording, writing, and touring with Alice, Dick had a successful Michigan-based rock band called The Frost. He did his first solo album, “Richard Wagner,” with Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin.

Dick had been keeping busy recording, producing and writing.  He also wrote an autobiography titled “Not Only Women Bleed”, to which Alice Cooper wrote a foreward for.  The book is  available at notonlywomenbleed.com.

Below is a statement from Alice on the passing of his friend Dick Wagner:

“Even though we know it’s inevitable, we never expect to suddenly lose close friends and collaborators. Dick Wagner and I shared as many laughs as we did hit records. He was one of a kind. He is irreplaceable. His brand of playing and writing is not seen anymore, and there are very few people that I enjoyed working with as much as I enjoyed working with Dick Wagner. A lot of my radio success in my solo career had to do with my relationship with Dick Wagner. Not just on stage, but in the studio and writing. Some of my biggest singles were ballads what I wrote with Dick Wagner. Most of “Welcome To My Nightmare” was written with Dick. There was just a magic in the way we wrote together. He was always able to find exactly the right chord to match perfectly with what I was doing. I think that we always think our friends will be around as long as we are, so to hear of Dick’s passing comes as a sudden shock and an enormous loss for me, Rock N Roll and to his family.”

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