Nita Strauss denies she has permanently left Alice Cooper's band
She could return in 2023
Last updated 24th Aug 2022
Nita Strauss has denied she has permanently departed Alice Cooper’s band and she “may have the chance to come back” in 2023.
Last month, Nita Strauss issued a statement on Instagram saying she “will not be joining the Alice Cooper band” on their upcoming autumn tour and she was looking forward to embarking on her “next adventure” after eight years with the shock rock legend.
A few days later, it transpired that Strauss had joined Demi Lovato’s band and she’s currently touring North America with the multi-million selling pop turned rock singer.
Alice Cooper, meanwhile, drafted in his former axeman Kane Roberts for his own North American trek.
In a new interview with Louder, Nita Strauss has clarified her status in Alice Cooper’s band and referred to her exit as a “hiatus” rather than a “departure.”
“It’s an interesting thing that everyone’s picked up saying it’s a ‘departure’ but I don’t feel, necessarily, that I left,” Strauss explained.
“I took a step back and I’m stepping back from this upcoming tour but I don’t think anyone has ever used the word quitting or leaving outside of other people.
“When I had my last few shows with Alice, we had what Alice called a ‘Hiatus Dinner’ where he said ‘We wish you the best, we love you, you’re welcome back’. There’s no shutting of a door and changing of the guard, it’s just I’m taking a step back a little bit.
“Depending on what the schedule looks like next year, I may have the chance to come back, I may not. But it definitely doesn’t feel as final to me and to the people in Alice’s band and the inner circle as it has been portrayed out in the world.”
Heaping praise on Alice Cooper, Strauss continued: “He’s the best. Alice and his wife Sheryl and his manager Shep, we’re a family. We’ve spent more of the last eight years together than we did with our flesh and blood families.
“So we just absolutely love, adore and respect each other, it’s a great place to be and if it is my last time there, anybody who steps into that role is super lucky.”
Nita Strauss joined Alice Cooper’s band in June 2014 following the departure of Orianthi.
Back in 2018, Nita Strauss became the first ever female Ibanez signature guitarist, and she introduced her own guitar, the Ibanez JIVA.
Before joining Alice Cooper’s band, Strauss was a member of the Los Angeles based all-female Iron Maiden tribute act The Iron Maidens.
Strauss was also recruited as a member of hard rock outfit Femme Fatale in 2013 when vocalist Lorraine Lewis reformed the band after a 23-year break.
One of Nita’s ancestors on her father’s side of the family is Austrian composer Johann Strauss II.