Nick Valensi takes temporary break from The Strokes tour

Nick Valensi performs onstage with The Strokes at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan on August 14, 2022 — (Image credit: Scott Legato/Getty Images)

The Strokes have announced that guitarist Nick Valensi will be taking a “temporary break” from the band’s upcoming tour promoting their seventh studio album, Reality Awaits.

“Nick will be taking a temporary break from the scheduled tour, but we look forward to his return,” the band wrote yesterday (May 14) on their Instagram stories.

While they did not give a reason for his hiatus, they did mention that “holding down the guitar in the meantime is our old friend Steve Schiltz, who many of you will remember from the early NY days.”

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A long-time associate and friend of the band, Schiltz was part of the New York-based shoegaze band Longwave. Best known for their early albums Endsongs and The Strangest Things – released in 2000 and 2003, respectively – the band also supported the Strokes on several occasions.

Things came full circle when The Strokes invited him to fill in on guitar for a gig at New York’s Irving Plaza in 2021 and again earlier this year. He will once again take on guitar duties for the upcoming world tour, which kicks off at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee on June 12.

In related news, Haim’s Danielle Haim recently spoke to Guitar World about her experience sidemanning for Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas’ solo project early on in her career.

Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology and how it is shaping the future of the music industry, and has a special interest in shining a spotlight on traditionally underrepresented artists and global guitar sounds. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Auf der Maur, Yvette Young, Danielle Haim, Fanny, and Karan Katiyar from Bloodywood, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her Anglo-Maltese, art-rock band ĠENN.