Shock rock legend Alice Cooper is featured in a new interview with Backstage Axxess. Following is an overview of the audio interview, found below.

"In our interview, Cooper recounts the history of the Hollywood Vampires and what it means to him now to pay respect to his former drinking buddies. Of course, Cooper who is 34 years sober has never felt better and it shows on stage. We not only chat how about how both Johnny Depp and Joe Perry (Aerosmith) entered the picture to join forces, but Cooper also elaborates in our one-on-one conversation on the current state of his own band. 

Following their wildly successful concerts at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, in front of 100,000 screaming fans at the Rock In Rio festival, and their spectacular worldwide television debut on the 2016 Grammy Awards reaching a global audience of almost 25 million people, fans worldwide demanded more. Hollywood Vampires - Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp – always deliver and arranged their schedules to give their fans what they want.

Hollywood Vampires have announced a full summer tour across the US and Europe kicking off May 24th in Verona, New York and continuing through.

Alice Cooper and Joe Perry spoke with Rolling Stone about the upcoming tour. Read an excerpt below:

Rolling Stone: What can people expect on this tour?

Joe Perry: “It's really about us having fun. Obviously, I love watching the audience get off, but to turn around and look at the people onstage with me, I've just got to shake my head. Never in my wildest dreams. To have Matt Sorum and Johnny Depp and Alice – I mean, I've known Alice for years and years and years, but we've never really had the chance to play together. And Johnny's sat in with us a few times on Aerosmith shows, but we've never really had the chance to do something like this. So it's really exciting. All that excitement is what we're going to bring to the stage and put it out there for the audience.”

RS: Will it be a theatrical show, like an Alice gig?

Alice Cooper: “I don't think it needs to be theatrical. It needs to have its own flavour.”

Perry: “It'll be a good rock show. I don't think we're going to go in with a bunch of bombs, fireworks and all that stuff. I don't think we need that. And it takes away from the music. We'll just let the music do the talking.”

Read the full interview at RollingStone.com.

Joining the Hollywood Vampires on tour will be their rock star musician friends and modern day Vampires Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses/The Cult) on drums, Robert DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots) on bass, Tommy Henriksen (Alice Cooper) on guitar, and Bruce Witkin (The Kids) on piano, percussion and guitar. For tickets, visit this location.

"Here is a gang of friends who came together really by chance and over the last year we were finally able to wrangle our schedules and the energy just fell into place. Playing with this line up is like a dream come true. After seeing the reaction at Rock in Rio in front of 100,000 fans, I know this band is going to tear the house down. Hell, I would want to be in the audience to see us rip it up." – Joe Perry

A super-group comprised of rock royalty and a Hollywood superstar, the Vampires will hit the stage offering fans a non-stop, energetic rock concert like no other, performing their new single "Bad As I Am" from their new deluxe album, as well as renditions of popular classics including "My Generation," "Whole Lotta Love," and a "School's Out"/"Another Brick in the Wall" medley.

Hollywood Vampires released a new digital deluxe version of their self-titled album. This expanded version includes three additional songs, including one original and two rocking covers. The deluxe version includes the scorching new single "Bad As I Am" an original song penned by Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen, and Bruce Witkin and features Matt Sorum, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, and Johnny Depp. Also included is "I'm A Boy," a Who original, that was only available as a Japanese bonus track. "7 and 7 Is" is an unreleased track from the album sessions and is the classic song by the legendary Los Angeles band Love, a Vampires special pick and one that Alice covered on his 1981 solo album, Special Forces.

In 1969 on the Sunset Strip at a club called the Rainbow Bar & Grill, the Hollywood Vampires were born in the upstairs bar. It was a gathering place for the rock stars living in or passing through L.A. "To join the club, one simply had to out drink all of the members," says Alice Cooper, a founding member of the original Vampires.

Cooper and good friend Johnny Depp got together and decided the spirit of the Hollywood Vampires should live again (minus the drinking). Cooper and Depp were joined by Joe Perry, who is an old friend of both, and the recording began: a tribute to the original Hollywood Vampires. An environment was born for great artists to hang, laugh and play together.

Tour dates:

May
24 - Verona, NY - Turning Stone Casino
27 - Lisbon, Portugal - Rock in Rio
29 - Herborn, Germany - Hessentag Festival
30 - Stockholm, Sweden - Grona Lund

June
1 - Horsens, Denmark - The Prison
6 - Bucharest, Romania - Romexpo Parc C

July
1 - Bethlehem, PA - Sands Bethlehem Event Center
2 - Mashantucket, CT - The Grand Theater at Foxwoods Casino
3 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Resort Spas and Casino Event Center
5 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest BMO Harris Pavilion
7 - Aurora, IL - River Edge Park
8 - Orillia, ON - Casino Rama Entertainment Center
9 - Niagara Falls, ON - Stage at Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino
10 - Brooklyn, NY - Coney Island Amphitheater
12 - Kettering, OH - Fraze Pavilion
13 - Mt. Pleasant, MI - Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
14 - Cadott, WI - Rock Fest
16 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
18 - Fargo, ND - Scheels Arena
22 - Rohnert Park, CA - Weill Hall
23 - Jacksonville, OR - Britt Pavilion
24 - Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery
25 - Paso Robles, CA - Mid State Fair