Nita Strauss announces departure from Alice Cooper's band, cancels solo 2022 festival appearances

Electric guitar hero Nita Strauss has announced, following the recent conclusion of the singer's European tour, that she is leaving Alice Cooper's band.

Strauss, who has played with Cooper's group since 2014, made the announcement on social media, adding that she has also cancelled all of her planned solo festival dates for the year.

"After this absolutely incredible run in Europe, it is bittersweet for me to let you guys know that I will not be joining the Alice Cooper band for the upcoming fall tour," Strauss wrote, before adding, "I will also regretfully have to cancel the festival dates my solo band had planned for the rest of the year.

"I am not pregnant! There is no drama whatsoever and my touring year is still very full – in fact, I’m on a flight straight into the next adventure as I post this, and I’ll be on stage again much sooner than you think. But that’s news for another day.

"The past eight years together has been the experience of a lifetime, and I could not be more grateful to Alice and Sheryl Cooper, Shep Gordon, the amazing band, crew and fans for welcoming me to all of your nightmare," she continued. 

"I don’t know what the future will hold after this, but I am forever thankful."

Since replacing Orianthi as Cooper's six-string sidekick in 2014, Strauss has become one of hard-rock guitar's most recognizable names. She became the first woman to ever be honored with an Ibanez signature guitar in 2018, with the release of the JIVA10, and was ranked as the fourth most significant guitarist of the 2010s in a 2019 Guitar World readers poll.

Likewise, Strauss was named the best guitarist in the world right now in a separate Guitar World readers poll in 2020.

We're eager to see what Strauss' next move is, but if you want to incorporate some elements of her fiery six-string style into your own playing in the meantime, our primer on her tight and precise rhythm work and rapid-fire soloing is a good place to start.