# Nita Strauss

Nita Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American rock musician. She is currently a touring guitarist for Alice Cooper, has also been a touring guitarist for Demi Lovato and has a successful career as a solo artist. Strauss is regularly featured on the covers of worldwide print magazines including Guitar World and Guitar Player, was the first female signature artist with Ibanez guitars, and became the first female rock solo artist in 32 years to hit number one on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.

## 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 all-female tribute band The Iron Maidens, Strauss' career has included performing with several rock and metal ensembles including As Blood Runs Black, 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 team owned by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS. The house band played the national anthem and provided additional music during the games.
In June 2014, Strauss was hired to replace Orianthi 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. On March 3, 2023, Alice Cooper announced that Strauss would return for the 2023 tour.
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 documentary Hired Gun.

### Solo artist

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 to release and distribute the album worldwide. The first single, "Our Most Desperate Hour", was released in September 2018 along with pre-orders for the record on both CD and vinyl, with the vinyl completely selling out before release. Controlled Chaos debuted on the Billboard charts at No. 1 Top New Artist, No. 3 Label Independent, No. 4 Top Hard Music, No. 8 Top Rock, No. 8 Top Internet, No. 20 Top albums, and No. 7 on the iTunes Rock chart. The album's second single, "Mariana Trench", was chosen by WWE as the official theme for NXT TakeOver: WarGames (2018).

### Special appearances

Strauss performed the Star Spangled Banner at the 2017 Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio. She also performed the Star Spangled Banner for the 2022 WISE Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway.
Strauss was introduced to World Wrestling Entertainment 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 in New Orleans 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 at WWE Evolution. Her original song "Mariana Trench" was chosen by Triple H as the official theme for NXT TakeOver: WarGames.

## Recognition

In January 2018, Strauss became the first ever female Ibanez signature artist with her own model guitar, the Ibanez JIVA10. DiMarzio later released their Pandemonium humbuckers, 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.
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".
Her solo on "The Wolf You Feed" was voted by Guitar World readers as the 6th best guitar solo of 2022.

## 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 magazines.
Strauss and fellow musicians Rabea Massaad and Plini were selected as celebrity judges to choose the "2019 Young Guitarist of the Year" at the UK Guitar Show.

## Personal life

Strauss claims to be a descendant of Austrian composer Johann Strauss through her father, although she is not listed on Johann Strauss's known family-tree. The site does however state that "[i]llegitimate children, like the descendants of Johann Strauss I. and Emilie Trampusch, are - as a rule - not part of this diagram".
In 2023, Strauss became engaged to drummer Josh Villalta. On May 4, 2024, the couple married in Los Angeles.

### Los Angeles Rams

Strauss is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Rams, she frequently appears at Rams games at SoFi Stadium, performing interludes or playing riffs out to the stadium to start crowd chants. Strauss was honored to play "America the Beautiful" at the Rams' Salute to Service game in November 2018. Following the Rams' victory in Super Bowl LVI, Strauss was awarded with a Super Bowl ring as an honorary part of the organization.

### Health and fitness

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 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, Critical Hit, Docker's Guild, FB1964, Metal Allegiance, Kane Roberts and We Start Wars. She has been featured on albums by Maxxxwell Carlisle, Tina Guo and Angel Vivaldi, 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 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Strauss released her first instrumental solo album, Controlled Chaos, on November 16, 2018.
| Year | Artist | Album | Tracks | Credits |
| 2009 | Kill Slowly | — | Louder Than WordsLet GoEmpty Promises | Guitar |
| 2013 | Consume the Fire | — | EmpoweredDead Man WalkingEverlasting SkyDeath of an IconThere's Only Today | Guitar |
| 2013 | Maxxxwell Carlisle | Full Metal Thunder | The Power of Metal Compels Me (feat. Nita Strauss) | Guitar |
| 2013 | Jamie Christopherson | Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance | The Stains Of Time (Maniac Agenda Mix) | Guitar |
| 2013 | Critical Hit | Volume One | Tetris Main ThemeAngry Birds Main ThemeLegends Of AzerothZelda's LullabyHalo 2 Main ThemePokémon Main ThemeBowser's CastleTo ZanarkandHikariBattle for New YorkStreets Of WhiterunSons Of Liberty | Guitar |
| 2015 | Glenn Stafford and Jason Hayes | Heroes of the Storm | Soundtrack | Guitar |
| 2015 | Maxxxwell Carlisle | Visions of Speed and Thunder | The Power of Metal Compels Me (feat. Nita Strauss) | Guitar |
| 2015 | Tina Guo | Cello Metal | The Trooper (Iron Maiden) | Lead guitar |
| 2015 | Docker's Guild | The Heisenberg Diaries, Book A: Sounds Of Future Past | Flash Gordon SuiteBarbarellaSuspensionWhen The Wind BlowsThe Never Ending StoryUFO Main ThemeDune Suite | Guitar |
| 2017 | We Start Wars | — | The Animal Inside | Guitar |
| 2017 | She Rocks | Volume 1: A Collection Of Kick-Ass Guitar Goddesses | Pandemonium | Guitar |
| 2017 | Alice Cooper | Paranormal | No More Mr. Nice GuyUnder My WheelsBillion Dollar BabiesFeed My FrankensteinOnly Women BleedSchool's Out | Guitar, backing vocals |
| 2017 | FB1964 | Störtebeker | Hexenkessel | Guitar solo |
| 2017 | Angel Vivaldi | Synapse | Serotonin (feat. Nita Strauss) | Guitar |
| 2018 | Alice Cooper | The Sound of A | The Black WidowPublic Animal #9Is It My BodyCold Ethyl | Guitar, backing vocals |
| 2018 | Alice Cooper | A Paranormal Evening With Alice Cooper at the Olympia Paris | Brutal PlanetNo More Mr. Nice GuyUnder My WheelsDepartment Of YouthPainBillion Dollar BabiesThe World Needs GutsWoman Of Mass DistractionPoisonHalo Of FliesFeed My FrankensteinCold EthylOnly Women BleedParanoiac PersonalityBallad Of Dwight FryKillerI Love The DeadI'm EighteenSchool's OutAnother Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2 (Pink Floyd) | Guitar, backing vocals |
| 2018 | Metal Allegiance | Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty | King with a Paper Crown | Guitar |
| 2018 | Nita Strauss | Controlled Chaos | Prepare For WarAlegriaOur Most Desperate HourMariana TrenchHere With YouThe Stillness at the EndThe QuestHope GrowsLion Among WolvesPandemonium 2.0The Show Must Go On (Queen) | Guitar, bass |
| 2019 | Kane Roberts | The New Normal | King of the World | Guitar |
| 2022 | Docker's Guild | The Mystic Technocracy - Season 2: The Age of Entropy | S.O.S. Spazio 1999 (bonus track) | Guitar |
| 2023 | Nita Strauss | The Call of the Void | Summer Storm The Wolf You Feed (feat. Alissa White-Gluz) Digital Bullets (feat. Chris Motionless) Through the Noise (feat. Lzzy Hale) Consume the Fire Dead Inside (feat. David Draiman) Victorious (feat. Dorothy) Scorched Momentum The Golden Trail (feat. Anders Fridén) Winner Takes All (feat. Alice Cooper) Monster (feat. Lilith Czar) Kintsugi Surfacing (feat. Marty Friedman) | Guitar, Bass |
| 2023 | Demi Lovato | Revamped | La La Land (Rock Version) | Guitar |

### Singles

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | US Main. | Album |
| "Dead Inside" (featuring David Draiman) | 2021 | 1 | The Call of the Void |
| "Victorious"(featuring Dorothy) | 2023 | 16 | The Call of the Void |

## Live band

* Josh Villalta – drums
* Johnny D Young – rhythm guitar
* Katt Scarlett – keyboards
* Kasey Karlsen – vocals (2023–present)

## Filmography

Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2021 | Paradise City | Val Wolf | TV spinoff of American Satan |