It is most unfortunate, but Mr Cooper’s Personal Assistant and archivist has passed away.
Brian “Renfield” Nelson identified as The World’s Biggest Alice Cooper Fan and received his job after the November tour of “Flush” in 1980, after having encountered Alice Cooper numerous times and subsequently becoming familiar with the artist.
Brian also kept The Alice Cooper Archives, a large collection of memorabilia, including Alice Cooper’s birth certificate and old passports. He held a number of cameos, acting as a stand-in for Alice’s hands in a number of music videos and could be seen briefly in the “Feed My Frankenstein” segment in Wayne’s World. He occasionally played the role of Dr Renfield onstage with Alice.
The official statement at Alice Cooper’s website reads, “It is with extreme sadness that we need to inform the community of Alice Cooper fans of the passing of Brian ‘Renfield’ Nelson, Alice’s long-time archivist and personal assistant. It was a sudden, completely unexpected, and untimely passing. We would appreciate it if you would keep him in your thoughts, appreciate his many contributions to Alice’s life and career over the years, and respect Brian’s privacy and the privacy of Alice and his extended family (at home and on tour) at this time”.
Alice Cooper announced that he will continue touring in Russia, “as Brian would have wanted it”.
Brian will be greatly missed by the fan community.
For further information, visit Alice Cooper’s official website at http://www.alicecooper.com/.
Brian, we miss you so much. Collecting and going to shows will not be the same without you. You were one of a kind. RIP Brian.
/coma
By: Anonymous on June 16, 2009
at 6:09 pm
hello, does anyone know how mr. nelson died? i only met him a few times and he was always very kind. thank you, johnny
By: Anonymous on June 17, 2009
at 3:11 pm
At this point, there are no official announcements as to the cause of Mr Nelson's passing. As it is, I urge you to respect the privacy of Mr Nelson and Mr Cooper and not to speculate on cause of death.
I have been unfortunate enough never to have met Mr Nelson, but have heard a lot of good things about him. I regret being unable to meet him.
He will be sorely missed.
By: Cooler Becky on June 18, 2009
at 2:24 pm
Since it is over 2 years later I was wondering if anyone had yet heard of how Brian died. Knowing brian the way I did he was personal yet I cannot imagine anything that could be undisclosed.
By: Miss PAula on September 16, 2011
at 10:36 am
I lost touch with Renfield and was saddednd by this news when I heard. Still in 2011 I miss my Friend. I miss the fun and laughter I and friends shared with him. He had such a dry sense of humor! LOL! I still miss going out to lunch, talking about work, and raquet ball…
I still miss you old friend
Love,
The Crow
By: Oy on August 2, 2011
at 8:17 am
I had a dream of Brian two nights ago, it was very real, I sure miss not being able to talk to him over the phone or whenever he’d come to town or when I would go to California.
I became friends with Brian years ago, I hadn’t seen him in a while and then saw him in 2008 (the last time he was in BC). He looked fantastic, did not look ill, did not look like he had any substance problems and I agree with Ms. Paula, it’s been some time since Brian has passed away, does anyone know the cause of death? I’m very curious, I’ve never been able to find a Obituary online, was one ever done?
By: Lori on March 3, 2012
at 3:08 pm