ALICE COOPER will be ushered into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame during the 26th annual induction ceremony Monday night at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Set to be honoured alongside singer Alice Cooper himself are drummer Neal Smith, bass player Dennis Dunaway, keyboardist Michael Bruce and the late Glen Buxton, who died of complications from pneumonia in October 1997. John Soeder from Cleveland's The Plain Dealer caught up with Cooper recently and talked about his illustrious career. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Cooper on the early days: "“The original band did all the groundbreaking work. We were the ones who started in a garage, brought theater to rock ’n’ roll and paid the price for it. I mean, people hated us. Not just the press. Other rock ’n’ roll fans hated us. They didn’t like the idea of where we were taking the future of rock.”

Cooper on the late Glen Buxton: "Buxton was a total original. He wrote the riff on ‘School’s Out,’ one of the most memorable riffs of all time. And he had his moments of being an absolutely brilliant guitar player. Nobody played liked him. . . . Glen was the heart and soul of the band.”

Cooper on their outrageous stage show overshadowing the music: “People said, ‘If you have to do theater, you’re not a very good band. It took a long time for our records to sink in. . . . Then BOB DYLAN mentioned that I was one of his favorite lyricists. And JOHN LENNON said that Elected was one of his favorite records. When people like that start talking about your records - not your theatrics, but your songs - then all of a sudden other people go, ‘Oh, OK!’”

Read the entire interview here.