Guitarist Nita Strauss announced that she would not be joining Alice Cooper for his upcoming tours back in July. Strauss has since joined Demi Lovato's live band and Cooper has recruited his former guitarist Kane Roberts. Though in an interview with Louder, Strauss reveals she hasn't actually quit Cooper's live band and instead has simply gone on hiatus.
Strauss said in the interview she never explicitly said she was quitting the band, which is fair – her statement at the time never said she was leaving forever. Strauss also adds that upon the completion of her last show, Cooper and the band threw her what they dubbed a "Hiatus Dinner." So y'know, maybe expect Strauss to be back in the fold sometime eventually.
"It's an interesting thing that everyone's picked up saying it's a 'departure' but I don't feel, necessarily, that I left. I took a step back and I'm stepping back from this upcoming tour but I don't think anyone has ever used the word quitting or leaving outside of other people.
"When I had my last few shows with Alice, we had what Alice called a 'Hiatus Dinner' where he said 'We wish you the best, we love you, you're welcome back'. There's no shutting of a door and changing of the guard, it's just I'm taking a step back a little bit. Depending on what the schedule looks like next year, I may have the chance to come back, I may not. But it definitely doesn't feel as final to me and to the people in Alice's band and the inner circle as it has been portrayed out in the world."
On the decision to leave and join Lovato, Strauss said it was difficult but will be "so grateful to go back and play with them some more. And for right now I'm just excited to be where I'm at."
