Nita Strauss returns for a seventh season as the Los Angeles Rams‘ guitarist, with Josh Villalta joining on drums.
Nita Strauss starts her seventh year as the Los Angeles Rams‘ official guitarist this weekend, and for the first time she will not be doing it alone. Josh Villalta, her husband, manager and drummer, has been brought into the role officially, putting the pair on the field together at SoFi Stadium.
Villalta has played alongside Strauss for years while running her career behind the scenes, and has appeared at SoFi with her before, including a 2023 performance of “Victorious” with Dorothy at the Rams‘ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is the first season he holds the position himself.
“To be brought in this year is an incredible honor. The Rams organization has been amazing to Nita and I over the years, so having the opportunity to officially join her makes this even more special. I’m excited to bring a new element to the game day experience, I have some cool ideas in mind and I can’t wait for the fans to see and hear what we bring to the stadium this season,” he said.
Strauss, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, said the pairing changes what the job means to her.
She said: “There’s only one thing better than playing your hometown stadium, and that’s doing it with your partner by your side. Josh takes every live performance to another level and I’m so excited for the fans at Sofi to get to experience it! Can’t wait to rock the Rams House together!”
The pair perform on Saturday 22 August, when the Rams host the New Orleans Saints at SoFi Stadium with kick-off at 1pm Pacific. It is a preseason fixture, the team’s first at home this summer following a 20–12 win in Kansas City on 15 August. The regular-season home opener comes on 10 September against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Rams reached the NFC Championship game last season, going 12–5 before losing 31–27 in Seattle in January.
Strauss took the role in 2020 and has played home games throughout, including the run to the Super Bowl LVI title in February 2022, for which she was given her own championship ring. She has also performed her own material at the stadium, among it “Dead Inside” during the 2021 season.
Alongside the Rams she has built a career taking in a number one at rock radio, signature instruments and gear with Ibanez, D’Addario, Levy’s and DiMarzio, and work with Alice Cooper, Demi Lovato and WWE.
Strauss and Villalta had their first child in June, which is why she has been off the road with Cooper this year. She is on maternity leave rather than out of the band, and personally chose the guitarist covering for her, Anna Cara, from Newcastle in England, who has previously worked with Marc Storace of Krokus and Tommy Henriksen of Cooper‘s band and the Hollywood Vampires.
Cara made her debut across three “Welcome To Our Nightmare” shows with Cooper and illusionist Criss Angel at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas from 2 April, before the Alice’s Attic runs in the United States and Europe.
Strauss joined Cooper‘s band in 2014, replacing Orianthi on the recommendation of former Cooper bassist and Winger frontman Kip Winger, and stayed for eight years before joining Lovato‘s band in mid-2022, making her live debut with her that July on Jimmy Kimmel Live. She returned to Cooper‘s touring band in 2023.
Strauss and Villalta were introduced in 2011 in the driveway of the Rainbow Bar & Grill in West Hollywood by Mike Taft, now a marketing manager at Yamaha. Villalta proposed on 6 July 2023 at the release party for her album The Call Of The Void, and the two married in May 2024 at The Hollywood Roosevelt.
Cooper performed “I’m Eighteen” at the reception with bassist Chuck Garric and Villalta on drums. Guests included Disturbed singer David Draiman and his wife Sarah Uli, Disturbed bassist John Moyer and his wife Brandi, Lovato and her husband Jordan “Jutes” Lutes, and chef Chris Santos with his wife, actress Natalie Makenna.
