LEGENDARY rocker Alice Cooper has run out of snakes for his stage show after his Scottish supplier was hit by a second snake death in two years.
Bill Crowe, 56, from Haddington, East Lothian, has been providing boa constrictors to Cooper’s UK tours for 13 years.
But while many rock stars worry about dying drummers, Alice Cooper’s main concern is the alarming death rate of his snakes – which he famously appears alongside on stage.
Scottish snake collector Bill loaned Hell-raiser Alice his first boa, Lady Macbeth, in 1997 after meeting him at a record signing.
But after Lady Macbeth died in February 2011 two-stone Dali slithered along for his chance at fame.
The eight-foot long boa constrictor, which features on the front of Cooper’s newest album, died earlier this month of suspected pneumonia.
And now life-long Cooper fan Bill is frantically searching for another boa before the rock god returns to the UK this summer for his next tour.
Bill, who works with the NHS at Hermanflat Hospital in Haddington, said: “Alice is back in the UK in August and Dali was expected to be there, but obviously he won’t now.
“Alice and his people are aware that Dali’s dead. They put an acknowledgement of his loyalty on their website.
“Dali started off with Alice in Belfast in 2011 and after that it was the photo-shoot for the new album, ‘Welcome 2 My Nightmare’ he’s on the front cover of that.
“I’m frantically on the lookout for another sizeable boa constrictor but they’re not easy to source. There are none locally – you have to travel miles to get one.”
In a moving tribute to his pet snake, Bill wrote on Facebook earlier this month: “Sadly, yesterday, after a battle against a respiratory ailment, Dali was put to sleep. A veteran of Donington, 2 UK Night of Fear tours plus the 100 Club gig in London, Dali also featured on the cover of W2MN and book.
“He was a great performer and will be sorely missed!”
After the announcement his death, hundreds of messages of condolence flooded in to Alice Cooper’s official Facebook page.
One Cooper fan, David Middaugh, wrote: “R.I.P Dali. Any snake that has rocked with Alice has had a good life and recognition.”
Autumn Parry was also moved by the death of the boa, posting: “This is so sad. Dali was awesome – Rock on my slithering friend!”
Anna Burch added: “The show will never be the same without him”
Mr Crowe, a staff nurse, had his camper van stolen in 2011 while it was laden with memorabilia and keepsakes.
The theft, which was worth a total of around £11,000, took place on a London street just hours before an Alice Cooper gig.
Dali was not in the van at the time, and Cooper posted a mesage on his website telling fans to be on the lookout for the stolen merchandise.
He said: “we would love to catch these creeps so if anyone does hear anything please let us know.”
