A few years back rock icon Alice Cooper discovered a rare Andy Warhol silkscreen in storage. 1964s Little Electric Chair (red) is from Warhol’s famed Death and Disaster series and features the image of, you guessed, an electric chair. The series of artworks are inspired by old newspaper photos of Sing Sing’s electric chair, with a green version selling for a whopping $11.6 million in 2015.

Set to go on auction later this year via Larsen Gallery in Cooper’s home state of Arizona, this Warhol is set to fetch between $2.5 and $4.5 million. This is a little more than the original price, with Cooper’s former girlfriend, model Cindy Lang, purchasing the print for $2,500 in the early 70s. She gifted the silkscreen to Cooper for his birthday and he hung it in their New York City pad until the two broke up. That’s when it went into storage.

Alice Cooper

It wasn’t until 2017 when Dennis Hopper mentioned to Cooper he was selling some Warhol’s that The Grandfather of Shock Rock went searching for the artwork. 

“I’m surprised that it didn’t get lost – we moved so many times,” Cooper told Rolling Stone of the piece. “It just didn’t fit in the house in Arizona. It’s much more of a New York, L.A., or London thing.”

Cooper put the piece on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before deciding to sell it this year. When questioned why he’s selling the piece, Cooper was very pragmatic, explaining how he’s all about the now. 

“So many people collect Alice Cooper stuff. I don’t collect any of it. I don’t live in the past. I’m always thinking about what’s next,” he says. “I was a child for a long time before [I was Alice]. So the Warhol thing never was a nostalgic thing for me. I liked it and I kept it but it doesn’t affect me emotionally at all. I’m sure there’s a lot of people looking for a Warhol electric chair. Good. Let them find this one.”