Nita Strauss becomes first female solo artist to have a number one single at rock radio

Virtuoso guitarist and songwriter ‘Hurricane’ Nita Strauss has broken a new boundary, reporting that she’s become the first female solo artist to have a number one single at rock radio. 

The songwriter’s November single release, Dead Inside (featuring David Draiman), hit the top spot on the rock radio chart this week, and Strauss took to social media to inform fans of the accomplishment.

“It’s official,” she wrote. “I didn’t know this fact until a few weeks ago – no female solo artist has had a #1 single at rock radio, ever. Until today. We held strong on the charts all week and Dead Inside is officially the #1 rock song in the country.”

Among those quick to congratulate Strauss were Joe Bonamassa, Chris Jericho, Alex Skolnick, Phil Demmel, Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, Lilith Czar (aka Juliet Simms) and Strauss’s fellow guitarist in Alice Cooper, Tommy Henriksen.

The news follows reports in November that the single represented the first top-10 entry on Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart from a solo female lead artist for more than 25 years.

The song, a collaboration with longtime friend and Disturbed frontman Draiman, is the first Strauss-penned track with vocals that the guitarist has ever released to the public.

Dead Inside also represents the first taster of Strauss’s forthcoming second solo album, the as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2018’s Controlled Chaos, which is reportedly due later this year and set to feature a variety of vocalist guest spots.

Head to Nita Strauss’s official site for more information.