The second leg of the tour will be completed by 26-year-old Australian guitarist Orianthi, who has been called “eminent guitar prodigy.” From the age of 6 she has played the guitar and has opened for artists like Stave Vai, Carlos Santana and Carrie Underwood.

“It’s very difficult to find someone to match the talents of Damon Johnson, but not only did we find someone who is more than up to the challenge … she also looks WAY better,” Cooper said in a statement.

See for yourself with Alice Cooper tickets to a show near you. The band heads back to the U.S. in November with gigs already scheduled for Michigan, West Virginia and New York.

Artists become eligible for nomination 25 years after the release of their first album or single. Therefore, any artist who released a record after 1985 are eligible, meaning that Alice Cooper has been eligible for nomination for a whopping 16 years! Can you believe it?

Other nominees for the 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi, Chic, Neil Diamond, Donovan, Dr. John, the J. Geils Band, LL Cool J, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, Donna Summer, Joe Tex, Tom Waits and Chuck Willis.

In order to be inducted, an artist must receive at least 50 percent of the vote from the Hall of Fame Committee. In 2010, Genesis, ABBA and Iggy and the Stooges were among the inductees.

The inductees will be announced in December, though the award ceremony won’t be held until March 14 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Check back soon for more news on Alice Cooper tickets, tour and more.

The Halloween Hootenanny tour kicks off at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on Sept. 30 and runs through Nov. 20 at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium.

Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper tickets are also available for a number of other tour dates:

Oct. 1…Harrah’s Ballroom in San Diego, Calif.
Oct. 2…Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater in Tucson, Ariz.
Oct. 4…USANA Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City, Utah
Oct. 6…Independence Event Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Oct. 7…The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
Oct. 8…U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, Ill.
Oct. 12..Broome County Arena in Binghamton, N.Y.
Oct. 14..Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine
Oct. 15..Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.
Oct. 16..DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.
Oct. 19..Roanoke Performing Arts Theater in Roanoke, Va.

This isn’t the first time the two have performed together. Earlier this year, Zombie and Cooper shared the stage on a sold-out North American tour. Rob Zombie drummer Joey Jordison will be extra busy on this tour, because he’s also the Murderdolls guitar player.

Alice Cooper is rumored to be releasing an EP titled Alice Does Alice sometime later this year, and Rob Zombie is currently working on a 3D maze project titled “Rob Zombie’s House Of 1000 Corpses: In 3D ZombieVision” as part of Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights event.

Zombie’s upcoming album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2, is scheduled for re-release with new material on Sept. 28.

Cooper’s bassist, Chuck Garric, played with Dio prior to working with Cooper. Garric joined Cooper on his syndicated radio program, “Nights With Alice Cooper,” to tape a special segment talking about their fondest memories of Dio:

“We used to have a lot of fun with Dio on the road,” Cooper recalled. “(Drummer) Eric Singer could not help from going ‘Holy Diver!’ as loud as he could to the point where the manager finally says, ‘Could you stop doing that?  It’s starting to annoy Ronnie.’  And of course you don’t say that to Eric Singer, because that just means he’s going to double the efforts.”

Garric added that Dio was “such a genuinely nice guy and welcomed me with open arms. From the moment I walked into the rehearsal rooms to audition, I felt at home…It was one of the greatest moments of my life, and it had changed my life. I owe him everything.”

Ronnie James Dio died on May 16th from his stomach cancer diagnosed last year. He was 67. RIP Dio. You can read more about Cooper’s memories of RJD through this radio program website.

With ten songs already written for the record, Alice reveals, “The album is going to be called The Night Shift.  The concept is, it’s a really dark radio show where I’m the disc jockey, and every song I play will be by a different fictitious band.  At some point, you’ll realize this disc jockey is a little bit more than that.  And I’m sure there will be some kind of a twist ending.”

There is no word yet of a release date.  In the meantime, don’t miss your chance to see the vaudevillian theatrics of Alice Cooper on stage this summer! Alice Cooper tickets also gives you access to the debauchery of Rob Zombie, with whom Cooper is touring much of the summer.

Keep checking back for more Alice Cooper news.

The schedule for the event is as follows:

Saturday, July 24th:

Alice Cooper

Megadeth

Slayer

Testament

Mastodon

Anvil

Fear Factory

Kataklysm

Sunday, July 25th:

Korn

Rob Zombie

Lamb of God

Five Finger Death Punch

Hatebreed

Chimaira

3 Inches of Blood

Winds of Plague

Atreyu

In This Moment

Norma Jean

Cooper and his band has some tours stops before and after the festival, in the Northern U.S. and Canada.