1973 Hit Ranked Among the ‘Greatest Rock Duets' of All Time-The Unlikely Collaboration No One Saw Coming
In 1973, Alice Cooper released one of his most iconic songs with "Billion Dollar Babies." The title track from the rocker's sixth studio album peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album itself soared to No. 1.
Written by Cooper, Michael Bruce, and Reggie Vinson, "Billion Dollar Babies" was a satirical take on decadence. "The Billion Dollar Babies concept was simply making fun of ourselves," Cooper told Classic Rock in an interview. "Here was a band nobody would touch three years ago, and now we're the biggest band in the world. We'd look at each other and go: ‘We're like billion dollar babies'."
The title track also featured an unlikely pairing between the gritty shock rocker and Scottish folk-pop singer Donovan.
Ultimate Classic Rock ranked "Billion Dollar Babies" among the greatest rock duets of all time, on a list topped by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." "It's the duet the world didn't know it needed," the outlet noted. "Alice Cooper, the king of shock rock, joining forces with ‘Mellow Yellow' crooner Donovan. Impressively, the unlikely pairing works to perfection, thanks largely to the dynamic between Donovan's falsetto and Cooper's demonic growl."
Cooper explained how the duet came to be
Cooper asked Donovan to join in on the song on the fly. In a video interview, the "School's Out" singer noted that he was well aware of the singer and his nice, "wonderfully written songs, such as "Sunshine Superman." "He's had like eight number ones in a row or whatever," Cooper said of Donovan.
"The first time I met Donovan, we were recording ‘Billion Dollar Babies' in London at Morgan Studios, and we realize we needed a British voice that was going to mimic my voice," Cooper recalled. "And I said, 'Who's here in the studio?' And they said, ‘Donovan's next door.' And I went, ‘Oh, this will be great.' Because he's got that great British voice, you know. And I went into the studio. I walked right in the studio, and he was doing something. I said, ‘Donovan, I'm Alice Cooper. Hi.' Oh, hi. I said, ‘Come on.' I said, ‘It's time to sing rock and roll.'"
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Cooper said Donovan readily agreed and did both talking parts and falsetto vocals and harmonies on "Billion Dollar Babies."
"He had so much fun doing that song," Cooper said. "And it was really fun to have Donovan on that. I like the idea of taking somebody out of their comfort zone and putting them in a place where they didn't normally go to, you know."
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Donovan also spoke about the unlikely collaboration
Donovan once admitted he didn't know who Cooper was when he first met him at Morgan Studios in London, but that he always liked to be "experimental." In an interview posted by Classic Rock Revisited, he said, "Alice introduced himself to me, and he played me the track. It was power chords, of course. …Alice said, ‘Would you like to try a vocal?' I thought he meant a background vocal. I said, 'It is very hard to climb on top of those guitars. I am going to have to do a falsetto.'"
Donovan pointed to bands like Yes and Led Zeppelin that had lead singers who had to cut through powerful guitars.
"When I was with Alice, I knew I would have to climb up over the guitars, and Alice told me to have a go at it," he explained, "I went in and sang this piercing falsetto and sang, 'Biiillllion dollllar babbbbieeeees.' I can do things with my voice like that. Alice said, ‘That's it man, let's record.' I think I did about half the vocals on that song."
Donovan described the unexpected experience of working with Cooper as "extraordinary." "It was really extraordinary to be a part of that song," he added. "‘Billion Dollar Babies' went to number one. I also did the talking part on the song, ‘We go dancing nightly in the attic.' It was all like a horror movie; it was all tongue in cheek."
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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 6:04 AM.