Alice Cooper's First Hanging Article: 1971

December 1, 1971, show at the Academy of Music in New York City marked the world premiere of Alice Cooper's iconic mock hanging execution as the show's grand finale. This was the official kickoff of the Killer Tour (though a handful of warm-up gigs had occurred in the prior week), and it introduced the full theatrical escalation that defined the band's shock-rock legacy. Prior to this, the Love It to Death Tour (earlier in 1971) climaxed with a staged electric chair execution during "Black Juju," but the gallows and noose were a brand-new, more visceral addition tailored to the Killer album's themes of murder, decadence, and mortality.

How the Stunt Worked and Why It Debuted Here

- The Setup: Built by Warner Bros.' props department, the gallows rose dramatically at the end of the set during the title track "Killer." Band members (dressed as executioners) dragged Cooper up a scaffold, looped a noose around his neck, and triggered a trapdoor drop. To ensure safety, Cooper wore a hidden body harness connected to a piano wire rigged through the rope and hooked to the venue's rafters—this kept the noose about an inch from his throat, allowing him to "hang" mid-air while thrashing theatrically amid smoke, strobe lights, and pounding riffs. The illusion was completed with fake blood, demonic fog, and crowd chants of "Hang him! Hang him!"

- The Debut Context: The Killer album (released just days earlier on November 27) demanded a bolder spectacle to match its darker edge. Producer Bob Ezrin and manager Shep Gordon pushed for innovation after the electric chair's success, drawing from horror films and vaudeville. This NY gig—billed with Wet Willie and Dr. John—drew a packed house of about 2,000 in the gritty East Village venue, and the hanging left audiences stunned, with one *Circus* magazine review calling it "a full-scale hanging, complete with dense clouds of manufactured demon-fumes... the high point of the performance." No mishaps occurred here (those came later, like a near-fatal wire snap in 1973), but it instantly cemented Cooper's rep as rock's ultimate provocateur.

- Evolution and Impact: The stunt ran through the entire Killer Tour (ending June 1972), evolving into guillotine beheadings by the 1973 Billion Dollar Babies Tour (designed by magician James Randi). It influenced countless acts and even sparked controversies, like a 1974 Canadian teen's tragic imitation leading to calls for bans on simulated violence in media.

This premiere was a turning point: pre-Killer, Alice Cooper was a cult oddity; post-hanging, they were arena-headlining stars breaking attendance records.

Songs performed that night were

Be My Lover

You Drive Me Nervous

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

I'm Eighteen

Halo of Flies

Is It My Body

Dead Babies

Killer

Long Way to Go

Under My Wheels