Apr 30, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Rock Music Fans Crown South of Eden America’s Top Garage Band in Driven to Perform Contest Sponsored by Cooper Tire and Legendary Rocker Alice Cooper

After scouring the nation to find America’s most talented garage bands, and opening the voting to fans across the country, Cooper Tire and legendary rocker Alice Cooper have announced the winner of the “Driven to Perform” garage band contest. It’s official—South of Eden will take home the winning prize, which is the opening act spot for Evanescence in a livestream concert on May 13. Evanescence’s latest album, “The Bitter Truth,” reached #1 on the iTunes Albums chart in 22 countries.

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Cooper Tire and legendary rocker Alice Cooper today announced that South of Eden has won the nationwide Driven to Perform garage band contest. The Columbus, Ohio, band won the opening act spot for a livestream concert by Evanescence on May 13. More information is available at DrivenToPerformConcert.com. (Photo: Business Wire)

Cooper Tire and legendary rocker Alice Cooper today announced that South of Eden has won the nationwide Driven to Perform garage band contest. The Columbus, Ohio, band won the opening act spot for a livestream concert by Evanescence on May 13. More information is available at DrivenToPerformConcert.com. (Photo: Business Wire)

The contest, which asked bands to submit an original work, as well as a cover of Alice Cooper’s song, “Under My Wheels,” was open for fan voting online from April 16 to 28. More than 12,000 fans voted and registered as part of the contest, ultimately crowning the Columbus, Ohio, band South of Eden as the winner.

“The competition to crown America’s best garage band has been an amazing ride,” said Chris Ball, Cooper Tire’s Senior Vice President & President, Americas. “We can’t wait to join Alice and Evanescence for South of Eden’s opening act performance on May 13. We are sure the unique sound and fan appeal that drove them to be our winner will make this a performance to remember. Just like in tires, rock is all about performance, and we congratulate South of Eden for earning the right to take the stage with Evanescence.”

The “Coopers” – Alice Cooper and Cooper Tire – were united not just in name, but by a common passion for cars and music. Alice Cooper, whose new album “Detroit Stories” recently debuted at #1 on Billboard’s top album sales chart, named the work for his hometown, the Motor City. Alice Cooper is also a classic and muscle car super fan who has an evolving collection that currently includes a 1968 “Bullitt” Mustang, an Avanti, and an Alfa Romeo Spider.

South of Eden band members include: Ehab Omran, Justin Young, Tom McCullough and Nick Fratianne. Fans can learn more about the winning band, and register to join the Livestream event at www.DrivenToPerformConcert.com. In addition, to learn more about Cooper Tire, visit www.coopertire.com.

About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB) is the parent company of a global family of companies that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger car, light truck, medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper's headquarters is in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design operations within its family of companies located in more than one dozen countries around the world. For more information on Cooper, visit www.coopertire.com, www.facebook.com/coopertire or www.twitter.com/coopertire.

About Alice Cooper

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard rock that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock, the group created a stage show that featured electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood and boa constrictors. Alice recently released a new album inspired by classic Detroit rock, called Detroit Stories. He continues to tour regularly, performing shows worldwide with the dark and horror-themed theatrics that he's best known for. Since 2004, he’s hosted an internationally syndicated classic rock show, Nights with Alice Cooper, that airs across 100+ cities. With his influence on rock & roll and popular culture long since acknowledged, there is little that Alice Cooper hasn't achieved in his remarkable career, including platinum albums, sold-out tours and any number of honors and career achievement awards. As he heads full steam into 2021, Alice shows no signs of slowing down. For more information on Alice Cooper please visit: www.alicecooper.com.

About Evanescence

Two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning Evanescence has made an impact on people around the world. The group’s 2003 landmark debut album Fallen laid the foundation spending 43 weeks on the Billboard Top 10 and selling more than 17 million copies worldwide. Debut single and global hit “Bring Me to Life” reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and marked their first U.K. #1 hit single. The equally popular “My Immortal” peaked at #7 in the U.S. and U.K. Following multiple worldwide tours, The Open Door came next, which went on to sell more than five million copies followed by the self-titled Evanescence which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts. Evanescence lead singer-songwriter and pianist Amy Lee, bassist Tim McCord, drummer Will Hunt, lead guitarist Troy McLawhorn, and guitarist and backing vocalist Jen Majura went down both very new and familiar paths for their fourth and most ambitious release to date, Synthesis, in 2017 via BMG. The symphonic effort scored four Billboard #1s, debuting atop the Independent, Alternative, Rock, and Classical Album Charts. Evanescence launched their worldwide “Synthesis Live” tour in October 2017 combining their intense live performances and timeless songwriting with a powerful live orchestra. The Bitter Truth, out now on BMG, is Evanescence’s fourth studio album.