Nita Strauss rejoined Alice Cooper on stage last night during the rock veteran’s show at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado. The 35-year-old guitarist, who left Cooper’s touring band earlier this year to join Demi Lovato’s group, made a surprise appearance for the encore set to play on his classic song, “School’s Out”.
After being introduced as “Her majesty, queen of the guitar” by Cooper, Strauss took the stage alongside three other guitarists, including Kane Roberts, who replaced her. Following the performance, she shared the following photographs on Twitter:
In a separate tweet, she wrote, “I had the best time!”
In a recent interview with Metal Injection, Strauss was asked if leaving Cooper’s band after eight years was “nerve-wracking,” to which she responded: “I wouldn’t even say nerve-racking, because… I mean, it was a big decision, of course, but it definitely wasn’t as dramatic as it has seemed online, if that makes sense. We had just started the U.K. tour when I got the offer to come and play with Demi. And I just went into Coop’s room — I went to his hotel room and I talked with him and his wife. And I said, ‘Look, I have this opportunity.’ He asked, ‘Would it conflict with anything on this tour?’ I said, ‘No, but it would conflict with the fall dates, so I’d have to step back from the fall tour.’ And he said, ‘Go and do it.’ He gave his blessing. He gave me a big hug and said, ‘Go and have fun. Shine your light, and let us know what next year looks like and we’ll work it out.’ So it was a lovely and loving conversation — no big blowup; no drama; no one got fired; no one stormed out. And I took a step back and I’m trying something different. And we’ll see what happens in the future.”
About joining Lovato’s team, Nita told Louder the following: “So I actually got a text from Demi’s musical director when I was on the road with my solo band on the Black Label Society tour, and essentially what it said was what we all know now: Demi is a huge rock and metal fan. And Demi wants to go back to her routes and wants to put together an all-female rock band. She’s really one of the biggest stars in the world and she wants to take a step into our genre and this style of music that we love so much. When you get that text, that somebody wants to bring that type of music to the forefront, how do you say no? How do you turn down this opportunity to bring this style of music to so many more people? So I was thrilled to hear about it and I jumped at the opportunity. This was all way back in May. It’s been in the works for a really long time.”
She continued: “I’ve seen a lot of stuff out there saying, ‘She jumped ship really fast.’ There was nothing that happened fast, I think people just found out about it all at once. First and foremost, I went to Alice and [his wife] Sheryl for their blessing which they were so happy to give. Then I went to Alice’s management and started rehearsal with Demi. I did my first TV appearance with Demi, I believe it was three days after the last Alice show, so it was really out of the frying pan and into the fire. But her team has been really fun to work with, the band is incredible, the musical director, Demi herself, it’s just been a really good experience overall.”
On July 11, Nita announced that she would sit out Cooper’s fall 2022 tour. She subsequently canceled the festival dates her solo band had planned for the rest of the year. (Blabbermouth)
Photo Credit: Kalyn Oyer
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