Glen Buxton ✝

Glen Edward Buxton (November 10, 1947 – October 19, 1997) was an American musician and composer, lead guitarist for the original Alice Cooper group. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Buxton number 90 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2011, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the original Alice Cooper group.\n', ' Born in Akron, Ohio, Buxton moved to Phoenix, Arizona and in 1964, while attending Cortez High School, made his debut in a rock band called The Earwigs. It was composed of fellow high school students Dennis Dunaway, Vincent Furnier, John Tatum and John Speer. At the onset, Buxton was the only member who could play an instrument, and thus taught some of the other members to play after the group decided to take a shot at becoming a real band. They became popular locally, and changed their name to The Spiders in 1965 and later to The Nazz in 1967. In 1966-67, guitarist John Tatum and drummer John Speer left the group, and rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Bruce and drummer Neal Smith joined. In 1968, to avoid legal entanglements with the Todd Rundgren-led Nazz the group changed their name to Alice Cooper, premiering their new name at their performance at the Santa Barbara County Fairgrounds on March 20, 1968, Michael Bruce\'s 20th birthday.\n', ' Buxton was the co-writer of hit songs like "School\'s Out", "I\'m Eighteen", "Elected," and "10 Minutes Before the Worm". He is credited as lead guitarist on seven albums by Alice Cooper, including the chart-topping Billion Dollar Babies. However, he was "not invited" to play on 1973\'s Muscle of Love and does not appear, although he is credited due to management\'s concerns about band image with the fans. According to drummer Neal Smith, the absence was due to "problems that Glen was having with the demons of rock and roll at that particular time...really, Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle of Love, Glen didn\'t really play on the (latter) album. By hook or by crook, the albums had to be put out." The band sought out other guitar players to fill in, including Dick Wagner and fellow Cortez High School alum Mick Mashbir.\n', '