According to Billboard, Nita Strauss has just become the first solo woman to score a top 10 as a lead artist on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in nearly 26 years as her "Dead Inside" single landed at No. 10 on the list.
Previously the last solo woman to reach the top 10 was Melissa Etheridge, whose "Your Little Secret" spent its final week in the top 10 on the chart dated December 23, 1995.
A collaboration with DISTURBED singer David Draiman, "Dead Inside" is Nita's first new music since the release of her critically acclaimed debut solo album "Controlled Chaos" in 2018. It kicks off with Nita's inimitably intricate lead guitar work and, as the intro builds, begins to snake its way around the ground-shaking, headbanging lead riff as Josh Villalta's technical and bombastic drums kick in. Then comes the unmistakable vocal prowess of Draiman as he delivers his unique signature brand of enormously catchy vocal melody and a stadium-conquering chorus. The song ebbs and flows through sonic and emotional dynamics and culminates with a brutally heavy beatdown into a final rendition of the chorus, ensuring that the lead hook will be replaying over and over in the listener's head for days.
Speaking about the collaboration, Strauss previously said: "This is my first time releasing my own music with a vocalist, and I am so honored to take this step alongside a legend like David Draiman. David's voice and powerful lyrics took this song to a level I could never have imagined! And we are so excited to unleash this song on the world."
Draiman added: "Serendipity can be really cool. We've been friends for years. Nita sent me the track⊠I didn't have time to work on it right away⊠then, in literally a couple of days, while killing time in Santa Monica, the whole thing just came together. Incredibly proud of how it turned out and honored to be a part of it."
When the pandemic hit, being the force of nature that she is, Nita took the adversity of no touring and being at home and turned it in to a positive. During the past 18 months, Nita launched her online guitar learning course, "Rock Guitar Fundamentals", which takes the learner through everything from picking up the guitar for the first time all the way through to learning songs and playing solos. Taking her passion for health and fitness to the next level, Nita also launched her Body Shred Fitness Challenge, a three-month fitness challenge that pairs a love of music with passion for getting healthier in your body and mind! Participants have the chance to win prize packages valued at over $2,500 while becoming a part of a fun, supportive worldwide fitness community.
And, as if that wasn't enough, Nita launched her Patreon which gives fans access to weekly livestreams, lessons, signed photos and behind-the-scenes looks at the album recording process.
On top of these digital initiatives, Nita also became the official in-house guitarist of the Los Angeles Rams, playing every home game at the brand new SoFi Stadium, performed the national anthem at WWE's "NXT Takeover: Stand And Deliver" event, released two new signature Ibanez guitars, JIVA Jr and JIVA X, was featured on the cover of Guitar World's "Guitarists Of The Decade" issue and performed with Cooper at the Fire Fight Australia benefit for the bush fires that ravaged Australia in 2020.
Nita released "Controlled Chaos" in 2018 to mass acclaim from fans and media alike, with Metal Injection calling it "a great debut that â as its creator intended â leaves no doubt", and Guitar World stating "'Controlled Chaos' is a panoramic view of Nita Strauss's many strengths". To date the album has clocked up 6.7 million streams worldwide, with music videos for singles "Our Most Desperate Hour", "Pandemonium", "Alegria" and "Mariana Trench" generating over 3 million YouTube views.
As well as performing with Cooper, Nita has also played with R&B star Jermaine Jackson, early MTV darlings FEMME FATALE, video game supergroup CRITICAL HIT and popular tribute band THE IRON MAIDENS.
