Nita Strauss

Vinita Sandhya Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American rock musician. She is currently a 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 was born on December 7, 1986 in Los Angeles. She 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 the Docker's Guild album The Heisenberg Diaries – Book A: Sounds of Future Past, released on January 21, 2016.

Strauss appeared in the 2017 Netflix documentary Hired Gun.

On 2 April 2026, Alice Cooper announced that Strauss would not have been part of his supporting band for the 2026–2027 tour, for she had decided earlier in the year to take a maternity leave from live performance. Contextually, Cooper announced British guitarist Anna Cara as temporary replacement for Strauss.

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.

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".

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, however, states, "Illegitimate 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.

In January 2026, Strauss revealed that she was expecting a child. In June 2026, Strauss and her husband welcomed their first son, born on May 28. The child is named Maxwell James Villalta .

Los Angeles Rams Strauss is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Rams and frequently appears at Rams games at SoFi Stadium, performing interludes or playing riffs out to the stadium to start crowd chants. Strauss played "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. 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, Bass2023 Demi LovatoRevamped La La Land (Rock Version)Guitar

Singles Title Year Peak chart positions AlbumUSMain. "Dead Inside" 2021 1 The Call of the Void "Victorious" 2023 16

Other appearances +TitleYearBandAlbum"1979"2026The Smashing PumpkinsSending Hearts To All My Dearies: A Tribute To The Smashing Pumpkins

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