Nita Strauss celebrated her first wedding anniversary on May 5 by sharing video footage of the big day, including clips of her jamming with her all-star wedding band that included Alice Cooper and Disturbed’s David Draiman.
The shred queen tied the knot last May with Josh Villalta, the drummer in her solo band, in a gothic-themed ceremony she described as “our dark, romantic, heavy metal dream wedding.”
The footage, which was shared on Villalta’s Instagram, features Strauss jamming “I’m Eighteen” with Cooper, and “Enter Sandman” and “Cowboys From Hell” with Draiman and Disturbed bass guitar player John Moyer, as well as electric guitarist Johnny Young from Strauss’s solo group. Other participants included the L.A.-based wedding band the Moon Units.
“We had @themoonunits play and have part of their set be a live band karaoke where people can sign up and jam together,” Villalta explained in the post.
“How many wedding can you jam I’m Eighteen, Enter Sandman and Cowboys From Hell?”
The wedding’s all-star theme extended to the guests, who included Demi Lovato, the pop star whose transformation to hard rocker got an assist from Strauss two years ago when she took a leave of absence from Cooper’s group.
“[We wanted] the wedding to feel like us,” Strauss told People. “We didn’t want a cookie-cutter ceremony or reception that you could see in any bridal magazine — we wanted every aspect of the day and the experience to reflect us as a couple.”
While Strauss recently shared the stories behind her best and worst gigs with Guitar Player, we have to assume this was far and away her favorite — and most memorable.
Speaking of Cooper, the shock rocker is currently planning to release a new album this year with his original 1970s lineup, minus late guitarist Glen Buxton. Titled The Revenge of Alice Cooper, it will be the group’s first album since 1973’s Muscle of Love. Cooper and his group were leaders of the early 1970s glam-rock movement who reached their peak with the 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies, which featured the hit “No More Mr. Nice Guy.”
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