Nita Strauss

Latest Updates

Nita Strauss performs live

“As a kid, I had a hard time making friends. The guitar was a universal way to communicate where I didn’t have to worry about being cool”: For Nita Strauss, the guitar has been a lifelong ally in battling anxiety and addictions

By Alison Richter published

Playing guitar – and playing it live – can be hugely therapeutic. That’s certainly the case for Nita Strauss, who shares how her love for the instrument has helped her fight her demons

Nita Strauss

“Marty Friedman taught me to pick phrases that help tell the story. Resist the temptation to use your songs to show off your fastest licks”: Nita Strauss on how she stepped up her game for The Call of the Void

By Amit Sharma published

Nita Strauss can shred with the best of them, but her new solo album features ‘radio songs’ with guest-star vocalists – plus a showdown with mentor Marty Friedman

Wolfgang Van Halen (left) and Nita Strauss perform onstage

Guitar tour of the year? Mammoth WVH and Nita Strauss to hit the road together this fall

By Jackson Maxwell published

Wolfgang Van Halen's band will join forces with Strauss for a North American tour in November and December

K. K. Downing (left) and A.J. Mills perform with KK's Priest in the music video for the band's song, One More Shot At Glory

A heartfelt Taylor Hawkins tribute and literally electrifying tap-heavy solo: this week's essential guitar tracks

By Jackson Maxwell, Matt Owen, Matt Parker published

Fresh, guitar-driven goodness from Nita Strauss, KK's Priest, Dirty Honey, The Dust Coda, Lauran Hibberd, Metric and a whole lot more...

Nita Strauss – her new song Digital Bullets features an Eruption moment and a video that sees her fight online trolls with lightning

Nita Strauss electrocutes internet trolls using shred guitar lightning during this Eruption-inspired solo for Digital Bullets

By Matt Parker published

“It's a big f**k you to all the haters,” Strauss says of her latest single

Demi Lovato and Nita Strauss – the guitarist says her new single has an "Eruption moment" and is a middle finger to Lovato's haters

Nita Strauss’ new song has “an Eruption moment” that she wrote as “a big middle finger” to the Demi Lovato haters

By Matt Parker published

The virtuoso guitarist says the song and its solo were both born in response to a question about what made her angry

Nita Strauss (left) and Kasey Karlsen perform onstage at EXIT/IN in Nashville, Tennessee on June 13, 2023

Watch Nita Strauss rip Pantera's Cowboys From Hell as she kicks off her Summer Storm tour

By Jackson Maxwell published

It's not the first time the Ibanez-wielding virtuoso has tackled a tune by the Texas groove-metal legends, either...

Nita Strauss playing her Ibanez JIVA and Yvette Young with her YY20 signature guitar

Nita Strauss and Yvette Young once traded signature guitars – but found each others’ designs damn-near unplayable

By Matt Parker published

The swap may not have worked out for them but Strauss says it made her feel good about the health of the guitar industry

Joey Walker (left) and Stu Mackenzie perform onstage with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard at Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater in Austin, Texas on October 28, 2022

This week's essential guitar tracks: Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton's final collaboration is revealed, and psychedelic titans channel their inner thrash demons

By Jackson Maxwell, Matt Owen, Matt Parker published

Hear fresh, vital new guitar work from Nita Strauss, Joe Bonamassa, Red Devil Vortex, R.L. Boyce, Bully, Creeping Death, and many more

Nita Strauss performs onstage

Nita Strauss announces The Call of the Void – a star-studded new solo album featuring Lzzy Hale, Marty Friedman and Alice Cooper

By Matt Owen published

Listen to new single The Golden Trail, which sees Strauss team up with In Flames vocalist Anders Fridén for a full-throttle riff clinic

Nita Strauss performs at The Ritz on November 22, 2021 in San Jose, California.

Nita Strauss: "A guitar solo is a way for the guitarist to tell a chapter of the song's story. That dictates my approach, rather than, 'Here's a bunch of cool notes'"

By Andrew Daly published

The Ibanez signature shredder on reuniting with Alice Cooper for her latest single, how working with singers made her a less selfish musician, and why people got her departure from Cooper's band so wrong

Hannah Jadagu performs at The Pershing in Austin, Texas on March 15, 2022

From swirling Hendrixian arpeggios to fresh solos from one of John Frusciante's favorite modern-day players: here are this week's essential guitar tracks

By Michael Astley-Brown, Jackson Maxwell, Matt Parker published

Celebrate spring's arrival with life-giving guitar goodness from Wolfgang Van Halen, Nita Strauss, Sylosis, Ayron Jones, Ida Mae and Marcus King, Hannah Jadagu, Body Type, Cory Hanson and more

Alice Cooper and Nita Strauss live onstage at London's Wembley Arena in 2017

Nita Strauss reunites with Alice Cooper for new single Winner Takes All – and Strauss is cutting heads in the solo

By Jonathan Horsley published

“There was no question that I wanted to create a song to collaborate with my longtime boss and friend, the legendary Alice Cooper,” says Strauss

Alice Cooper and Nita Strauss performing live

Nita Strauss will return to Alice Cooper’s lineup for 2023 tour

By Matt Owen published

After taking temporary leave to perform alongside Demi Lovato, the Ibanez signature artist is set to reunite with Cooper and co for a string of tour dates this year

The 100 greatest guitarists of all time

The 100 greatest guitarists of all time

By Jonathan Horsley last updated

A comprehensive rundown of the best guitarists of all time, featuring the trailblazers, the early innovators, the best jazz, rock, indie, blues, metal and acoustic players – and the top guitarists around today...

Nita Strauss

Nita Strauss says she was told to “show more skin” and “appear available” early in her career

By Matt Parker published

The virtuoso guitarist discussed the sexist advice she was given in her first years in music

Jared Dines shred collab poster

Jared Dines recruits Matt Heafy, Nita Strauss, Ichika Nito, Lari Basilio, Marcin and more for one of the most star-studded shred collabs ever

By Matt Owen published

Michael Angelo Batio, Manuel Gardner Fernandes, Herman Li, Hedras, Sophie Burrell, Jason Richardson and many more also took part in the 70-strong, 37-minute shred-a-thon

Nita Strauss

Nita Strauss: “Any time you’re playing guitar, you’re improving, no matter what it is – whether you’re playing power chords or technical metal”

By Alison Richter published

The Ibanez signature artist made the very public shift from Alice Cooper’s band to Demi Lovato’s band this year, but she’s so much more than “someone else’s guitar player”

[L-R] Nita Strauss, Steve Vai, Sophie Lloyd and John Frusciante

The 10 best guitar solos of 2022

By Jonathan Horsley published

As voted for by you, and featuring the lead guitar skills of Nita Strauss, Sophie Lloyd, John Frusciante, Polyphia, Steve Vai and more, here are the solos that lit up your year

January 2023

Wolfgang Van Halen, Nita Strauss and the absolute best of 2022 – only in the new Guitar World

By Damian Fanelli published

Plus! The year's biggest guitar news, best new gear, our picks for guitarist of the year, the future of EVH Gear, Orianthi, Jason Richardson and much more!