Nita Strauss

Nita Strauss stands out as a versatile and virtuosic American guitarist who has built a career balancing high-profile touring work with her own solo releases. Her first album, Controlled Chaos, arrived in 2018, with The Call of the Void following in 2023 and yielding the mainstream rock chart-topper “Dead Inside.”

Born Vinita Sandhya Strauss, she traces an ancestral link on her father’s side to the celebrated Austrian composer Johann Strauss. Early notice in metal circles came through her roles in the all-female Iron Maiden tribute band the Iron Maidens and the popular West Coast hard rock/glam metal group Femme Fatale. As a Los Angeles native known for frequent collaborations and both stage and session work, she took over from outgoing Alice Cooper guitarist Orianthi in 2014 and began appearing on WWE programming in 2018, including Wrestlemania 34.

That same year Strauss signed with Sumerian Records and delivered her debut instrumental solo LP, Controlled Chaos. She then became the first female artist since 1990 to reach number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in 2022. The single “Dead Inside,” which included a guest vocal from Disturbed’s David Draiman, featured on the star-studded 2023 album The Call of the Void alongside appearances by Lzzy Hale, Alice Cooper, Alissa White-Gulz, and Megadeth’s Marty Friedman, among others.