Nita Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American rock musician. She is currently Demi Lovato's touring guitarist and was a former touring guitarist for
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
from 2014 to 2022 and has a successful career as a solo artist. Strauss was the first female signature artist with
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...
guitars and is regularly featured on the covers of worldwide print magazines including '' Guitar World'' and ''
Guitar Player
''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and politica ...
''. She was ranked No. 1 on ''Guitar World''s list of "10 Female Guitar Players You Should Know".
Career
Strauss started touring with her own band Lia-Fail as a teenager, leaving high school in her junior year to pursue music full time; the band included future world champion boxer Mikaela Mayer. Although initially known for her work with
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
all-female
tribute band
A tribute act, tribute band or tribute group is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as ...
The Iron Maidens
The Iron Maidens are an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 2001 as an all-female tribute act to English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The band currently consists of drummer Linda McDonald, bassist Wanda Ortiz, lead vocalist ...
, Strauss' career has included performing with several rock ensembles including Consume the Fire, Femme Fatale, and the video-game supergroup Critical Hit.
In 2014, Strauss was the official in-house guitarist for the Los Angeles Kiss (LA KISS), the
arena football
Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...
team owned by
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
KISS
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
. The house band played the national anthem and provided additional music during the games.
In June 2014, Strauss was hired to replace
Orianthi
Orianthi Penny Panagaris (born 22 January 1985), known mononymously as Orianthi, is an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter who rehearsed in 2009 with Michael Jackson in preparation for his '' This Is It'' concert series, and performed wi ...
as Alice Cooper's touring guitarist for the remaining 2014 tour dates. She toured with Alice Cooper until July 2022, when she announced her departure from the touring band. A few days later, Strauss announced that she had joined Demi Lovato's backing band as a touring guitarist.
Strauss is featured as the main guitarist for seven songs on Docker's Guild album called ''The Heisenberg Diaries – Book A: Sounds of Future Past'', released on January 21, 2016.
Strauss appeared in the 2017
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
documentary ''Hired Gun''.
Solo artist
''Controlled Chaos''
In April 2018, Strauss launched a Kickstarter campaign for her debut solo record ''Controlled Chaos''. The campaign was successfully funded in two hours and eventually raised eight times its initial goal. Strauss produced the record herself, including the majority of the engineering work, and played all of the guitars and bass on the record.
After the record was completed, Strauss signed with
Sumerian Records
Sumerian Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen.iTunes Rock chart''. The album's second single, "Mariana Trench", was chosen by
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...
by her boyfriend Josh Villalta. She initially started watching because it was important to him, but quickly became a fan herself.
Strauss started performing live at WWE pay-per-view events in 2018. In April 2018, Strauss played Shinsuke Nakamura's entrance music at
WrestleMania 34
WrestleMania 34 was the 34th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on April 8, 2 ...
in front of an audience of 78,000 fans and millions more who watched the worldwide streaming event. On October 28, Strauss performed with
Lzzy Hale
Elizabeth Mae "Lzzy" Hale (born October 10, 1983) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of hard rock band Halestorm, which she co-founded with her brother Arejay Hale in 1997.
Career
Hale began writing and ...
at
WWE Evolution
WWE Evolution was a women's professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK brand divisions. The event took place on October 28 ...
. Her original song "Mariana Trench" was chosen by
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...
Rock on the Range
Rock on the Range was an annual rock festival that was held at two locations. The first and main location was in Columbus, Ohio, United States at Mapfre Stadium (originally Columbus Crew Stadium; renamed in 2015) from 2007 to 2018, while the ...
In January 2018, Strauss became the first ever female
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...
signature artist with her own model guitar, the
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...
humbucker
A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in ...
s, signature pickups that were developed especially for her JIVA Ibanez guitar.
On January 26, 2019, Strauss was honored at the 7th Annual She Rocks Awards with the "Inspire Award", presented to her by Nick Bowcott and her personal hero,
Steve Vai
Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...
.https://loudwire.com/nita-strauss-first-active-rock-solo-female-chart-topper/
On January 9, 2022, Strauss became the first female rock solo artist in 32 years to hit number one on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart with her song "Dead Inside".
Teacher and mentor
Strauss teaches guitar playing, and has gone on teaching tours offering master classes in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, South America, and Asia. She has written articles and recorded companion videos for '' Guitar World'' and ''
Premier Guitar
''Premier Guitar'' is a media company devoted to guitarists. It is based in Marion, Iowa, and it's staff is focused on creating the best website, videos, podcasts, and print/digital magazine for gearheads around the world. Interviews have include ...
'' magazines.
Strauss and fellow musicians Rabea Massaad and
Plini
Plini Roessler-Holgate, also known mononymously as Plini, is an Australian guitarist and songwriter. He began his career by releasing music under the name Halcyon, before switching to the use of his first name. Steve Vai described him as "the fu ...
were selected as celebrity judges to choose the "2019 Young Guitarist of the Year" at the UK Guitar Show.
Personal life
Strauss says she is a descendant of Austrian composer
Johann Strauss
Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...
through her father. Her sister, Varsha Strauss, is married to Panji Adhikumoro, grandson of Suharto, 2nd President of Indonesia from his son, Bambang Trihatmodjo.
Strauss is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Rams, she frequently appears at Rams games at
Sofi Stadium
SoFi Stadium () is a 70,240-seat sports and entertainment indoor stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, from Los Angeles International Airport an ...
, performing interludes or playing riffs out to the stadium to start crowd chants.
Strauss was honored to play "
America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two neve ...
Strauss is a fitness enthusiast, practicing strength training, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and posts blogs about fitness issues on social media. She has been featured in ''
Muscle & Fitness
''Muscle & Fitness'' is an American fitness and bodybuilding magazine founded in 1935 by Canadian entrepreneur Joe Weider. It was originally published under the title ''Your Physique'', before being renamed to ''Muscle Builder'' in 1954, and acq ...
'' and Bodybuilding.com. In 2019, Strauss launched the ''Nita Strauss: Body Shred'' fitness challenge, with a companion e-book titled ''Body Shred: Your Guide to Feeling and Looking like a Rock Star''.
Discography
Strauss has recorded with Alice Cooper,
Jamie Christopherson
Jamie Christopherson is an American musician who has contributed scores to a number of popular films and video games, including the movie '' The Crow: Wicked Prayer'', and the games '' Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams'' and '' Metal Gear Rising: Revengean ...
Kane Roberts
Kane Roberts (born Robert William Athas; January 16, 1962) is an American heavy metal guitarist best known for his work with Alice Cooper. Additionally, he has performed as a solo act, and his cover of the unreleased Bon Jovi song "Does Anybody ...
Angel Vivaldi
Angel Vivaldi (born June 13, 1985) is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. Voted "third best guitarist" in 2014 by ''Prog-Sphere'', he began his solo career in 2003. Vivaldi has self-released five records, ''Revelations'', ''The Speed ...
, as well as the all-female compilation album '' She Rocks''. She has played on dozens of albums, trailers and soundtracks, including ''
Heroes of the Storm
''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bl ...
'' and '' Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance''. Strauss released her first instrumental solo album, ''Controlled Chaos'', on November 16, 2018.
Singles
Live band
* Johnny Young - rhythm guitar
* Christopher Dean - bass
* Katt Scarlett - keyboard
* Josh Villalta - drums
The Iron Maidens
The Iron Maidens are an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 2001 as an all-female tribute act to English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The band currently consists of drummer Linda McDonald, bassist Wanda Ortiz, lead vocalist ...