Credit: Jenny RisherAlice Cooper made a surprise appearance on a recent episode of the YouTube Live show Coffee Talk with ADIKA Live, during which he sang a new song he wrote especially for the program’s main guest, Zak Nilsson, son of late singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson.
Zak has been battling terminal colon cancer, which is in its late stages, and he appeared on the show to chat about his experience, the treatment he’s received and other related topics.
Cooper, who was friends with Zak’s dad back in the ’70s, showed up on the program to serenade Zak with a tune Alice wrote especially for him.
With just a solo piano accompanying him, Alice sang, “Zak, they got you on your back, and lying in the sack/ But every day you see the sun/ And Zak, there’s nothing that you lack, when everything looks black/ Remember you’re a son of a gun/ You’re dad would write a song about you/ It’d be a hit no doubt about it, and to him you were everything/ So Zak, your doc could be a quack, considering all that/ Tomorrow morning you’ll see the sun/ Oh, Zak!”
After Cooper’s performance, Zak noted, “Alice and my dad were very good friends, and unfortunately…I’ve never met Alice…[and] I’ve always wanted to. He’s always seemed like the coolest guy ever.”
Harry, who died in 1994 at age 52, and Alice were part of the infamous, hard-partying collective of rock stars known as the Hollywood Vampires, which was the inspiration behind Cooper’s side band of the same name with Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry and actor Johnny Depp.
The Hollywood Vampires‘ self-titled 2015 debut album featured a medley of the Nilsson songs “One” and “Jump into the Fire.”
By Matt Friedlander
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