Less than a month after returning to the stage with Alice Cooper at an NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders, Nita Strauss has resumed her role as the official guitarist of the LA Rams.
Strauss took to the stage at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, accompanied on drums by her husband, Josh Villalta, to play a short set of covers during the Rams’ Salute to Service halftime show.
The duo's extremely lively medley included the theme from Top Gun, Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls, Godsmack's Awake, Iron Maiden's The Trooper, Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone, Foo Fighters' My Hero and a closing mashup of Queen's We Will Rock You and Metallica's Sad But True.
"It was an absolute honour and a privilege to provide the halftime entertainment for this past weekend’s Rams' Salute to Service game, and even more special to get to do it alongside my husband on stage and our son and my mom in the front row!" says Strauss. "I will never forget this experience ever! So grateful to the Rams for the opportunity to make some magic on Sunday!"
Strauss first performed at a Rams game in 2018, playing America the Beautiful at the Salute to Service game, and became the team's official in-house guitarist in 2020 when they moved to SoFi Stadium. In 2022, she received an official Super Bowl ring from the franchise following their Super Bowl LVI win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Villalta, who drums with New Orleans metal band Choleric and played on Strauss's solo records, 2018's Controlled Chaos and 2013's The Call of the Void, was brought in to augment her halftime performances this season.
"To be brought in this year is an incredible honour," Villalta said in a statement. "The Rams have been amazing to Nita and I over the years, so having the opportunity to officially join her makes this even more special."
Strauss, who left Alice Cooper's band early this year to go on maternity leave, will return when Cooper resumes his Welcome To My Nightmare Las Vegas residency with magician Criss Angel later this month.
