16 Dec 1st–Dec 7th, 2022 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | Sheryl says that the musicians who stop (including Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Brian Welch of Korn, and many more) are “forever changed. They’ve said, ‘I had no idea this is what it was. I thought it was just a room. I had no idea it was almost like a mini-Julliard.’ They say, ‘Count me in anytime you want me.’” The Coopers are Christians, but are quick to specify that the atmosphere is nonreligious and welcoming to all. “We said from the very beginning: This has to be free. And it has to be open to every teenager,” Alice says. “We don’t care if you’re Taliban. We don’t care who you are. We don’t care what your gender is. You are welcome here. We’re a Christian nonprofit, but we’re not a church. We’re just Christian people that say our doors are open to everybody. No one has to learn Bible verses. It’s a rock teen center.” About 50 to 100 people visit the center each day from all walks of life. The prob- lems the teenagers face transcend racial or financial categories, Sheryl says. “There is no such thing as a teen who’s not at risk,” she says. “I don’t care if you come from the wealthiest home in Paradise Valley or you’re involved in gang life. There are a lot of really sketchy things out there, and a lot of choices that could result in life-or-death situations.” Alice adds, “It’s a much more dangerous world now than it was when I was a teen- ager. … We got busted for beer, we didn’t get busted for heroin.” And the stories that they hear are enough to break your heart. Alice recounts the time a young girl who had been coming to the center for a while wanted to show him a piece of paper. It was her to-do list from a year ago, on a day when her plan was to get up, eat break- fast, go to school, then go to the park to commit suicide. But on her way to the park, she got stopped by a group of kids who invited her to the teen center. From then on, “she was there every day at 3 o’clock,” Alice says. “I said to the board, if 20 years of work results in just Tess not killing herself, this was worth it. “We’re not psychologists,” he says. “We don’t ask why. We just give them an alternative.” The Show Because Solid Rock’s programs are free to the youth, raising funds is an important part of the Coopers’ work. In 2002, Sheryl says, they decided to put on a Christmas show as a new way to raise money. “It all started at our kitchen table,” she says. “We were flying by the seat of our pants, but between the two of us, we have 80 years of show business experience, and we had done a children’s variety show, so we knew how to do a timeline, call cues, technically produce it and call the cues ourselves, and that’s what we did.” At its heart, Christmas Pudding is “just a Christmas party,” Alice says. “If you had a Christmas party at your house and a piano was there, or you if had amps around, and a lot of musicians were there, they’d all get up and play. Everybody would do some- thing. … With this thing here, we said, ‘Why don’t we put together a variety show, a true variety show?’” Over the years, huge stars have donated their time and effort to the show, including Styx, The Doors’ Robby Krieger, Dee Snider, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Lita Ford, Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, Cheech Marin, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Sebastian Bach, Hollywood Vampires (Cooper’s supergroup with Johnny Depp and Joe Perry), and more. The Coopers delight in putting what may seem like illogical combinations of acts on the bill — Rob Zombie and Pat Boone. Ted Nugent and Glen Campbell. “I like to put people together that don’t belong together. People you’ll never see together again. And that’s what makes it so unique,” Alice says. The Christmas Pudding shows initially took in about $40,000 per year. Last year’s proceeds totaled about $900,000, the best year ever, Alice says. The average is Anniversary from p 15 Sheryl and Alice Cooper. >> p 19 Solid Rock Foundation
