Today in History - April 8: Rock star changed his own name to keep touring

Pioneering heavy metal band Alice Cooper officially broke up following their last concert on April 9, 1974.

Then less than a year later, Alice Cooper released a new album and began touring again.

The band hadn't reunited - but due to some legal trickery their lead singer was able to carry on under the name.

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The legal manoeuvre was simple. Frontman Vincent Furnier simply changed his name by deed poll to Alice Cooper.

As a result, Alice Cooper stopped being a band and began being a person.

The group was previously known as Nazz, but had to change their name when they discovered another outfit by the same name.

Furnier coined the name Alice Cooper because they thought it would be funny for the group to "sounded like we were somebody's aunt".

But audiences started to assume Furnier's name was Alice Cooper and the rest of the group were his backing band.

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"Pretty soon everybody called me Alice, they just assumed that the singer's name was Alice," he said.

The band, who had formed in high school, played together successfully for years as protogenitors of heavy metal and glam rock.

But they broke up after coming to loggerheads over how much money to spend on their elaborate stage shows.

After splitting, Furnier began recording and touring under the band name.

The album he released the following year became the most successful Alice Cooper record thus far.

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Three years after their breakup, the other members of the band reformed into their own outfit, the Billion Dollar Babies.

The band was not successful and they quickly broke up.

Last year the original band reunited to release their first album in 52 years. 

The cover art for The Revenge of Alice Cooper specifically listed the band members, though the singer was still credited as Alice Cooper.

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