Former ALICE COOPER Guitarist DICK WAGNER Dead At 71
July 30, 2014, 9 years ago
Dick Wagner, the Michigan-bred guitarist renowned for his work with Alice Cooper, The Frost, Lou Reed and others, died this morning (Wednesday, July 30th) in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 71.
Wagner succumbed to respiratory failure at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, where he had been in intensive care for the past two weeks following a cardiac procedure. The guitarist had famously overcome a series of medical issues during the past decade, retraining himself on guitar after a stroke paralyzed his left arm. He re-emerged to begin recording, writing and performing gigs, including a triumphant homecoming concert at the Magic Bag in November 2011.
Wagner was born in Iowa, moved with his family to Waterford as a child, and later settled in Saginaw. He was a key figure in southeastern Michigan’s emergent rock scene in the 1960s, a go-to guitarist who made his name with the Bossmen and the Frost.
He was eventually recruited by Alice Cooper for the milestone 1975 album Welcome To My Nightmare, and went on to A-list session work with the likes of Reed, Peter Gabriel and Rod Stewart. Rock lore has long held that Wagner was a secret hired hand on albums by several high-profile bands.
Read more at Detroit Free Press.
