Injured Orianthi drops out of Alice Cooper tour at last minute – replacement already announced

Orianthi playing guitar in front of a wire fence — (Image credit: Alex Brown)

The curse of Alice Cooper's third guitarist continues, with Orianthi forced to drop out of his upcoming tour just days before it was due to commence.

Orianthi was originally brought into the lineup alongside Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen in November, as a replacement for regular axewoman Nita Strauss, who was unable to commit to the tour due to a scheduling conflict.

Now Orianthi has been forced to abandon ship, a decision at first credited to "unforeseen circumstances" but later revealed to be the result of an injury.

“Unfortunately I have a torn hamstring and damage to my hip after last tour,” Orianthi posted on social media. “Not sure exactly when it happened but the pain I feel/felt is bad… getting it fixed up now."

Orianthi's replacement will be former Guns N' Roses man Gilby Clarke, who will join Cooper band for a run of dates that begin on January 31 in Augusta, GA, and end aboard the Rock Legends cruise, which embarks from Miami on February 13.

Cooper begins a run of European festival dates in July. Full dates below.

In 2022, Nita Stauss temporarily left Cooper's band to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Kane Roberts, who played on his 1980s' albums Constrictor and Raise Your Fist and Yell.

Alice Cooper: 2025 Tour Dates

Jan 31: Augusta The Bell Auditorium, GA
Feb 01: Cherokee Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort, NC
Feb 02: Greensboro Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, NC
Feb 04: Mobile Saenger Theatre Mobile, AL
Feb 06: Orlando Hard Rock Live Orlando, FL
Feb 07: Ft Myers Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, FL
Feb 08: Clearwater The BayCare Sound at Coachman Park, FL
Feb 11: St. Augustine Amphitheatre, FL
Feb 13-17: Miami Rock Legends Cruise, FL

May 09: Columbus Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival 2025, OH
May 18: Ocean City Boardwalk Rock 2025, MD

Jul 05: Hannover Stadium, Germany *
Jul 08: Bologna Sequoie Music Park, Italy
Jul 11: Athens Rockwave Festival 2025, Greece
Jul 13: Mogilovo Midalidare Rock in the Wine Valley, Bulgaria
Jul 19: Spalt Strandbad Enderndorf, Germany
Jul 25: London The O2, UK ∞
Jul 26: Mönchengladbach SparkassenPark, Germany
Jul 28: Amsterdam AFAS Live, Netherlands
Jul 30: Schaffhausen Stars in Town 2025, Switzerland

Aug 15: Philadelphia Citizens Bank Park, PA

* with Scorpions and Judas Priest
∞ co-headline show with Judas Priest

Tickets are on sale now.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.