In the wake of the recent news that Alexi Laiho passed away at the end of 2020, there has been an outpouring of tributes for the metal virtuoso from the guitar community.
Among those who have paid their respects to the guitar icon is Nita Strauss, who took to Facebook to share a touching tribute to the man who was one of her biggest inspirations and, to this day, still influences her own songwriting.
"Such devastating news to hear of Alexi Laiho's passing. Alexi was one of my BIGGEST inspirations when I got serious about playing guitar," writes Strauss. "I was so into Vai, Satriani, and the masters... but I LOVED heavy music."
Strauss describes Alexi Laiho's playing as a "bridge between the two for this young, metal starved guitar player".
"Alexi's songs... always sounded FUN. Heavy, brutal... fun," she continued. "I always try to emulate that exact mix, but no one did it better than him."
The Alice Cooper guitarist also shared that, despite having soft spots for Hatecrew Deathroll, Follow the Reaper and Are You Dead Yet, "if I had to pick one song that really stood out to me it would be Hate Me."
Alongside her words, Strauss shared a picture of her younger self with two of her prized possessions – her Alexi Laiho signature ESP AL-200 and 600.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Strauss joins a host of guitarists who have paid tribute to Alexi Laiho this week following the news of his death.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
“We’re doing my first-ever gig with Nirvana on SNL. What I didn’t know was there was a discussion about my guitar like, ‘No, we can’t let him on stage’”: Pat Smear’s first Nirvana appearance almost didn’t happen – because of his guitar
“I wasn’t gifted with enormous speed on the guitar. There were years when I thought I could get that if I practiced enough. It wasn’t ever really going to happen”: David Gilmour explains the origins of his lauded ‘feel’ playing technique