Back in 2022, Ibanez-wielding electric guitar virtuoso Nita Strauss left Alice Cooper's band after eight years with the shock-rock titan.
Though Strauss's future with Cooper was uncertain at the time – it was announced just days after her departure from the Cooper fold that she would be joining pop star Demi Lovato's live band – Strauss would join Cooper onstage for a one-off encore just three months after her departure, and subsequently re-join his band full-time the following year.
Now, it's been announced that Strauss will once again be taking a leave of absence from Cooper's band, and that one of her predecessors in the group, Orianthi, will be taking her place.
Orianthi toured with Cooper from 2011 through 2014, and will re-join the latter for a series of shows from late January through mid-February 2025.
“When Orianthi moved on to pursue her own career in 2014, we were lucky to find Nita,” Cooper said in a statement.
“Over the past decade, Nita, Chuck [Garric, Cooper's bassist], and Tommy [Henriksen, another one of Cooper's guitarists] have also launched their own projects, and we always try to coordinate our schedule so we can keep the band together, but these shows came up after Nita had already committed to another tour.
“So, I reached out to Orianthi, and thankfully she was available to jump back in, so we're all really looking forward to doing these shows with her. I’m so fortunate to always have such great musicians to work with.”
In the years since she left Cooper's band, Orianthi has kept plenty busy, releasing two studio albums – 2020's O and 2022's Rock Candy – and working on plenty of signature gear.
Orianthi's one of the rare guitarists with dual endorsements, having created a signature SJ-200 acoustic guitar with Gibson, while maintaining her longstanding relationship with PRS.
As if that wasn't enough, she's also created not one, but two, signature amps with Orange in the last three months – enough to make anyone feel lazy.
For a full list of tour dates, visit Alice Cooper’s website.
