Godsmack is an American heavy metal band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its formation, Godsmack has released five studio albums, one EP, four DVDs, one compilation album collection and one live album.

The band has had three consecutive number one albums (Faceless, IV, and The Oracle) on the Billboard 200. The band also has parked a ratified 20 top ten rock radio hits, including 15 songs in the Top Five, a record number of top ten singles by a rock artist.^[1]

Since its inception, Godsmack has toured on Ozzfest on more than one occasion, and has toured with many other large tours and festivals, including supporting its albums with its own arena tours. Godsmack has sold over 20 million records in just over a decade, yet despite the decline of album sales in recent years, they have proven to be one of the highest-grossing artists in the United States.^[2]

History[link]

Formation and early works (1995–97)[link]

In February 1995, Sully Erna decided to start a new band as the lead singer after playing the drums for more than 23 years, including more than two years in the now-defunct band Strip Mind.^[3] His new band, The Scam, formed with Erna on vocals, Robbie Merrill on bass, local guitarist and friend Lee Richards on guitar, and Tommy Stewart on drums. The Scam quickly changed its name to Godsmack, after recording one demo.^[4] The newly formed band started playing small bars in their hometown of Boston, Mass. Locally popular songs such as "Keep Away" and "Whatever" soon brought them to the top of the hit charts in the Boston/New England area.^[3]

The band's name, according to Merrill in the Smack This! DVD, was taken from the Alice in Chains' song "God Smack". However, Erna stated in a 1999 interview, "I was making fun of somebody who had a cold sore on his lip and the next day I had one myself and somebody said, It looks like God smacked your face for making fun. The name stuck and they went by Godsmack from then on. We were aware of the Alice in Chains song but didn't really think much about it. It's a cool song and the name had meaning for us."^[5]

In 1996, Tony Rombola and Joe D'Arco joined Godsmack as the guitarist and drummer, after Richards had left upon learning he had a six-year-old child and Stewart had left due to personal differences.^[6] In the same year, the band entered the studio for the first time, recording its first CD titled All Wound Up. The CD was recorded in just three days for $2,600.^[3]

For the next two years, the band played throughout the Boston area. Eventually Godsmack's CD landed in the hands of Rocko, the night-time DJ for Boston radio station WAAF (FM). The radio station put "Keep Away" into heavy rotation and the song rose to the number one spot at the station very quickly.^[3] Newbury Comics, a New England record store chain, agreed to sell the CD on consignment. Shortly after the success of "Keep Away", Godsmack went back into the studio and recorded a single titled "Whatever", which became the new local favorite on WAAF (FM).^[3]

In an interview Sully Erna stated, "We had been selling maybe 50 copies a month at the time WAAF picked up the album. All of a sudden we started moving over a thousand records a week. It was insane. Even crazier, I was doing all this from my bedroom. After years of grinding away, things finally started taking off".^[7]

[edit] Godsmack (1998–99)

In mid-1998, Universal/Republic Records signed the band to their label. Joe D'Arco was dismissed from the band. He was replaced by former drummer Tommy Stewart, who returned after expressing a desire to be in the band again.^[8] The band's first studio recording All Wound Up was re-mastered, and the finished self-titled debut CD album Godsmack was released to the public six weeks later. This led to the band's first headlining tour, "The Godsmack Tour".^[3] After the album's release the band went on the road playing club shows as well as playing at Ozzfest and Woodstock '99. This was followed by a tour in Europe supporting Black Sabbath.^[3] Roxanne Blanford from Allmusic gave the album three out of five stars, stating, "Godsmack confidently brought metal into the technological age".^[9] The album entered the Billboard 200 at number twenty-two,^[10] and was certified 4x platinum by the RIAA in 2001^[11] after being initially certified gold in 1999.^[12]

The album sold well despite being initially pulled from the shelves in some stores due to concerns over some of its lyrical content.^[13] The band and its record label later added a Parental Advisory sticker to the album, and some stores ordered amended copies of the album. Erna commented in Rolling Stone magazine stating, "Our record has been in the marketplace for more than a year now without a parental advisory sticker and this is the one and only complaint ... Stickers and lyrics are by nature subjective ... We have decided to put a sticker on the record".^[13] This controversy did not appear to adversely affect album sales but, according to Erna, helped, "It's almost taunting kids to go out and get the record to see what we're saying on it".

[edit] Awake (2000–02)

	"Awake" noicon Sample of "Awake" from Awake. The song was featured on U.S. Navy commercials up until 2007, when it was switched to "Sick of Life."
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In 2000, Godsmack returned to the studio after the multi-platinum success of Godsmack to start recording Awake. The album was released on October 31, 2000. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, and has been certified 2x platinum by the RIAA.^[10] "Vampires", a song on the album, also earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2002.^[14] With the release of Awake, Godsmack toured Europe supporting Limp Bizkit.^[15] Erna said at the time, "we've been touring nonstop since August 1998, So most of Awake was written on tour while we were ping-ponging between America and Europe, building up the band. "Ozzfest" was actually the only big tour where we rode under someone else's wings; we did a lot of work on our own".^[16] The band played Ozzfest in 2000 again as they had in 1999.^[12]

Two of the songs on the album were used in United States Navy commercials ("Sick of Life" and "Awake") as background music. Erna stated, "Someone in the military is a fan, and they asked if they could use the music, and we accepted".^[17] However, Erna insists that Godsmack does not support any war stating; "By no means has this band ever supported any war for any country or that we support government decisions or why we're sticking our nose in other people's business at times. What we support is our troops. And the women and men that go over there—or anywhere—to fight for our country and our lives and protect our freedom and I feel that."^[18] Sully has said in an interview that the girl on the cover of Godsmack, their first album, is the girl in the Greed music video.

[edit] Faceless and The Other Side (2002–05)

	"I Stand Alone" noicon Sample of "I Stand Alone", a song written and performed for the film The Scorpion King
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In 2002, Erna was asked to write and perform a song for the soundtrack to The Scorpion King. The motion picture was the third in the Mummy saga, and was a spin-off prequel of the Mummy series. The song Godsmack wrote and performed was titled "I Stand Alone" and became the number 1 single at Rock Radio and the most played Active Rock song in 2002 for 14 weeks straight. It was also used in the game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.

Shannon Larkin replaced Tommy Stewart as the drummer of Godsmack in 2002.

With Shannon Larkin (ex Ugly Kid Joe, Souls at Zero, Wrathchild America, MF Pitbulls) replacing Tommy Stewart, who left due to personal differences for the second time,^[3][19] Godsmack went back into the studio to record a new album that was released in 2003. Faceless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 269,000 copies in its first week,^[20] and the album would go on to sell over one million copies in the United States. Faceless managed to beat West Coast nu metal band Linkin Park, with the release of their second studio album Meteora, which dropped to number two on the Billboard 200. Faceless also debuted at number nine on the Top Canadian Albums and at number one on the Top Internet Albums and remained at that position for two weeks. A massive Tour of America and Europe supporting Metallica followed.

The lead single "Straight Out of Line" received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Hard Rock Performance". The award went to Evanescence's single "Bring Me to Life".^[21]

The album got its name after a swimming-pool incident, retold by Larkin; "Sully and I were standing up for one more jump, we're both there buck-naked, and I look over to the left and there's some woman who had just opened the blinds standing there with her mouth wide open". Erna added, "She was just waking up, we go, 'Sorry', and then boom, right into the pool. The next thing we know the cops are banging on the door, and that's sort of the point of calling the record Faceless".^[22] However in a later interview Merrill stated otherwise, making it unclear of how the album's title came to be, "It came from the band's feeling that, despite our radio and sales success, we still flew a bit under the radar".^[23]

On March 16, 2004 The Other Side, an acoustic EP, was released. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200; this is a relatively high position for an acoustic EP.^[10] It included several previously released songs re-recorded as acoustic versions, as well as three new acoustic tracks. One new song, "Touché", featured Godsmack's first guitar player, Lee Richards, as well as John Kosco, who were at that time in the now defunct band Dropbox,^[24] The other two new acoustic tracks were "Running Blind" and "Voices".^[25] The song "Asleep" is actually an acoustic version of "Awake" from the band's second album Awake.^[26] Godsmack shifted from its "heavy" sound to a more mellow acoustic sound on this EP in the same manner Alice in Chains did in the Sap and Jar of Flies EPs, one of many similarities to Alice in Chains for which the band has been criticized.^[27]

In 2004, Godsmack opened for Metallica's "Madly in Anger with the World tour",^[28] and headlined the tour along with Dropbox. Afterwards, in autumn 2004, the band played several acoustic shows to promote The Other Side, while at the same time continuing to open for Metallica.^[29]

[edit] IV and Ten Years of Godsmack (2006–07)

	"Speak" noicon Sample of "Speak" from IV. This is the first single released from the album.
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On April 25, 2006, Godsmack released its fourth studio album simply titled IV, followed by a tour that would continue until August 2007, titled "The IV tour".^[30] The album was produced by Erna and engineered by the well known producer and engineer Andy Johns, known for engineering Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV.^[31] The first single from the album, "Speak" was released on February 14, 2006. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 211,000 copies in its first week.^[32] IV has since been certified gold. The band had written over forty songs for the album, but the final track listing had eleven tracks, Larkin commented, "it's Sully's band and his vision. He sifted through all the music and picked the songs that he wanted on the album. We all said 'all right'. He's always had the vision of everything Godsmack from the artwork to the production to the engineer to the studio to what TV shows we play. Everything. When it comes time to pick the songs it's all Sully".^[33]

The album's minimalist name "IV" derives not only from its being the band's fourth studio album, but also from a running piece of backstage humor, as related by Larkin and Erna:

We have this security guy, a big, tough guy named J.C. He's another Boston guy. And in Boston it's "fou." They don't really have the "R." It's not "four," it's "fou." He'd be hanging around backstage and chicks would walk by and he would rate them from one to 10. But if it wasn't a 10, there was no one, two, three, or five. It was always you were a 10 or a fou. He just pulled the funniest things. Sometimes, he'd just hold up four fingers and wouldn't have to say it anymore and we'd all just bust out laughing. And then the funniest one, this guy walked by with a chick on each arm and he goes, "Hey, bub, two fous don't make an eight!" So when it came up, it's our fourth full-length record, everybody was like, "Fou!" And we were like, "That's it, man." We're not trying to break any records for originality here. I know that there's Black Sabbath Vol. 4, Foreigner 4, Led Zeppelin IV and a million IVs. We just thought it's fitting.^[34][35]

To celebrate ten years as a band, Godsmack released a greatest hits album entitled Good Times, Bad Times... Ten Years of Godsmack on December 4, 2007. The album debuted at number thirty-five on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in the first week of release.^[36] It includes a cover of the Led Zeppelin song "Good Times Bad Times", as well as a DVD of Godsmack's acoustic performance in Las Vegas at House of Blues. The album was originally intended to be a boxed set, but the band scrapped the plans so they could release a best of album. Godsmack will follow the release of the album with an acoustic tour.^[37] Despite rumors of the band going on hiatus as a result of releasing a greatest hits album, Erna was quoted as saying, "we're not going away, we are just gonna take a break and enjoy our 10th year anniversary and kind of recharge our batteries. And then Godsmack will be back, and we will come back bigger and badder than ever."^[37]

[edit] The Oracle (2008-present)

In November 2008, Larkin announced that the band would be reforming and recording a new album.^[38] The following summer, the band toured as support to Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest 2 tour^[39] and released a non-album single, "Whiskey Hangover". After the tour, Godsmack started production for their new album. The album, titled The Oracle was released on May 4, 2010.^[40] Arriving to popular reception, The Oracle is Godsmack's third straight full-length studio album to debut at No. 1 with 117,000 sold in the first week of release.^[41]

Erna had this to say about the early sound album, "It's gonna be really heavy. I mean, it's very aggressive. I'm not really sure; it's very premature right now. Right now we just finished one track for the Crüe Fest this Summer. But as far as the whole record goes, I think it's going to be a lot more in your face. I don't think there's going to be any 'Voodoo's or 'Serenity's on this one. We decided to go balls out!".^[42]

Godsmack headlined the fourth annual Mayhem Festival alongside Disturbed and Megadeth.^[43] The band will hit the studio in January to mix a live album plus record several covers for an upcoming release. The band will be on tour this spring with Staind.^[44] Godsmack has completed work on an EP of cover songs.^[45][46] Godsmack released their new live album Live and Inspired on May 15, 2012. The set included a bonus EP of cover tracks.^[47]

Influences and style[link]

Singer Sully Erna has cited Alice in Chains' former vocalist, the late Layne Staley, as his primary influence on singing.

The band's primary influences include Aerosmith, particularly, as well as others such as Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Pantera, and Rush according to Erna, Larkin, and Rombola.^[31][48][49] Erna has cited Staley as his primary influence.^[50] The overall sound of the band's first two albums sound similar to the sound of the Alice in Chains album Dirt.^[51] More recently, Godsmack has attempted to distance themselves from the Alice in Chains comparison with Erna stating in an interview with Matt Ashare, "I've just never really heard that in our music".^[52] On their more industrial songs Godsmack seems to have taken a influence from White Zombie, also covering their song "Thunder Kiss '65".

Rolling Stone Magazine describes the band as "hard as nails and cranked to eleven", while Alternative Press praised the band for its "churning, riff-driven hybrid of all that is heavy, past and present".

The band's music is often compared to Alice in Chains which the band cites as an influence.^[53][54] Adrien Begrand of Popmatters states, "Erna perfectly mimics the late Layne Staley's low, guttural, sinister singing and snarly, metal-inspired growls" -Erna's vocals also seem to be reminiscent of Metallica's James Hetfield- and, "The band's music is a faithful retread of Jerry Cantrell's churning, tuned-down hard rock".^[53] Katherine Turman of Amazon.com states the band has "dark, swirling, commanding music". She also commented on the band's third album Faceless, which "mixes arena rock in the vein of an Alice in Chains", "riff-heavy, layered tunes and sharp, confident bridge-burning lyrics".^[54]

Erna's singing style has been stated as "the snarl of James Hetfield", and "composed of dark harmony that sounds a lot like Alice in Chains".^[55] Merrill's bass style has been described as "bulldozer bottom with occasional slap-bass reverb".^[56] Larkin's drumming is thought to "worship at the twin altars of Neil Peart and John Bonham".^[19] And Rombola's guitar playing style has been praised as "guitars that sound like percussion instruments".^[56]

Band members[link]

Current members

• Sully Erna – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, drums, percussion, keyboards, harmonica (1995–present)
• Robbie Merrill – bass guitar (1995–present)
• Tony Rombola – lead guitar, backing vocals (1996–present)
• Shannon Larkin – drums, percussion (2002–present)

Former members

• Lee Richards – lead guitar (1995–1996)
• Tommy Stewart – drums, percussion (1995–1996, 1998–2002)
• Joe D'Arco – drums, percussion (1996–1998)

Discography[link]

• Godsmack (1998)
• Awake (2000)
• Faceless (2003)
• IV (2006)
• The Oracle (2010)

Awards and nominations[link]

Grammy Awards

• Godsmack has been nominated for four Grammy Awards.^[57]

Billboard Awards

• Godsmack has earned one Billboard nomination—which they won.^[57]

See also[link]

• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Godsmack

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Godsmack

• Official website
• Godsmack at Billboard.com
• Brazil fansite official

Sully Erna
Sully Erna at the 2006 World Series of Poker
Background information
Birth name	Salvatore Paul Erna
Born	(1968-02-07) February 7, 1968 (age 44)
Origin	Lawrence, Massachusetts
Genres	Heavy metal, alternative metal, post-grunge, thrash metal, hard rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, drums, piano, keyboards, percussion
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Universal
Associated acts	Godsmack, Meliah Rage, Strip Mind
Website	www.sullyerna.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Guitars Zemaitis Guitar

Salvatore Paul "Sully" Erna (born February 7, 1968), is an American vocalist and primary songwriter for the American heavy metal band, Godsmack. Erna is also a guitarist and drummer, performing these both on albums and during live shows. He has a daughter named Skylar Brooke Erna and an older sister named Maria.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Sully began playing drums at the age of 3. His father, Salvatore Erna, was a trumpet player and would rehearse in the basement where Sully would watch and fall asleep in an empty guitar case. His great grandfather was a famous composer in Sicily, where every year they honor his birthday and his pictures are hung in a museum.^{[citation needed]} At the age of 11 he discovered that it was easier for him to listen to something and play it than read sheet music. He stopped taking lessons and practiced at home rehearsing to records by Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Motörhead, and Rush.

Music career[link]

At 14, Dave Vose became his new instructor. He signed his first record deal in 1993 with a band called Strip Mind. Their debut album "What's in Your Mouth" sold less than 50,000 units. The band and Erna didn't get along, and he was booted out. They self-destructed shortly after. In Godsmack concerts he plays the bongos and a large drum set, staging a drumming duel known as Batalla de los Tambores with drummer Shannon Larkin. This battle has become a staple of the band's live show. He is also a harmonica player as present on the Godsmack song "Shine Down". It was recently announced that Sully will work on a solo record due out sometime in 2010, it will stray away from the hard rock of Godsmack. Sully wrapped up his acoustic tour with one final show at The House of Blues in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 28.

Erna has also worked with his local music scene. In April 2005, Sully participated in New Hampshire's Battle of the Bands Competition. The winner (a band called Zion who hails from Salem) had the opportunity to record a demo at Sully's California studio.^[1]

Solo work[link]

Erna recently told Glam-Metal.com that doing his first solo shows were "extremely nerve-wracking," adding, "My first show, I was really, really nervous. Honestly, I haven't been that nervous since I was, I don't know, maybe 10 years old at a talent show or something." Erna kicked off his first solo acoustic trek on May 1 in Niagara Falls, New York and closed it out on May 31 in Las Vegas. The shows have combined Godsmack songs with a few new originals and covers ranging from The Beatles to Alice In Chains to the theme from "Love Story".

Regarding how he went about selecting the material used for his solo show, Erna said, "I wanted to stick a couple of originals in and try them out because there was a couple of songs that were done on the piano or the guitar that I wrote that I don't think I would use on a GODSMACK record," he said. "For example, 'Eyes of a Child' and 'Until Then'. It was a great opportunity to showcase that and see if I can hit home with the people on those two pieces. Those songs are the most emotional pieces of the evening. One song is about children born with or dying from AIDS and the other is about a tribute to the troops of the United States Armed Forces."

Erna told The Pulse of Radio that playing some new material live is a good way for him to test out songs that might not work for Godsmack. "We're all musicians and we like to write music and not necessarily rock all the time," he said. "So, you know, if I sit home and I'm writing on the piano and sometimes just cool songs are written that don't necessarily fit maybe what you do with Godsmack, but you don't wanna not record them."

Erna stated at the time that he planned to work on his first solo album,^[2]

On March 4, 2009, Blabbermouth.net reported that Erna had completed work on his first solo album, Avalon, coming out September 14, 2010. Although, the single Sinner's Prayer will be on radio stations and on sale everywhere August 3, 2010. Erna described the album as being "a very different kind of sounding record," and "a huge departure from anything I've ever done."^[3]

The album includes Lisa Guyer on vocals, Tim Theriault on guitars and vocals, Chris Decato on keyboards, midi and vocals, Chris Lester on acoustic guitars and bass, classically trained Irina Chirkova of Bulgaria on Cello, Niall Gregory of Ireland Dead Can Dance on drums and percussion and David Stephanelli on drums and percussion.

Three days later, Rockerrazzi.com posted an interview with Erna in which he said that the record "should be out in the next two months."^[4] In further describing the album's sound, Erna said that "it's very eclectic," and "tribal" with "a lot of hand drumming" and "beautiful piano compositions."^[4] He also stated that he "worked with a percussion session for Dead Can Dance" and that the album will feature Lisa Guyer, who had performed backing vocals for the song "Hollow" on Godsmack's previous album.^[4]

Erna's debut solo album is titled Avalon, and it was released on 14 September 2010. According to The Pulse Of Radio, Sully Erna is planning his debut solo tour for sometime in early 2011, possibly in spring.^[5]

Erna will release a live DVD, "Avalon Live", in April.^[6]

[edit] Working on The Expendables soundtrack

Sully Erna told the Artisan News Service in a video interview that he was approached to record a song called "Sinner's Prayer" for this year's Sylvester Stallone blockbuster "The Expendables", which will also feature Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke and Randy Couture.^[7]

It was later revealed that the song would not be featured in the film or the soundtrack because the original scene that the song was meant to play in was re-edited and the final product didn't fit with the song.

Finally the song was included in the Director's Cut of the film, in the opening credits sequence.

Other work[link]

Sully Erna is good friends with Criss Angel and has participated in several episodes of the Criss Angel Mindfreak TV show. Sully's contributions to the discography of Criss Angel include co-writing and performing Mindfreak's new theme song "MF2." Sully appears in the music video along with Criss Angel and Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin.^[8]

Sully Erna is also featured in Mötley Crüe music video "White Trash Circus" released on February 25, 2009.

He also appeared in 2007 TV series Dirt.^[9]

Discography and filmography[link]

The Paths We Choose[link]

Erna released a memoir entitled The Paths We Choose on his birthday, February 7, 2007. The book details his struggles during the first 30 years of his life, up until the time Godsmack landed a record deal.

"The book is basically just my life from the time I was born until Godsmack started," Erna said. "I wanted to write about the whole experience of trying to get there, and hopefully that will inspire some people that maybe are still in the ghettos or trying to dig their way out of a hole. I mean, we're all human and we weren't born rock stars. So I think there's an interesting story to tell of the pain and struggling. You know, being middle classed and being raised in crazy neighborhoods. If kids can see that they’ll be able to relate to anything they have a dream for."^[10]

The book sold 100,000 copies in its first month of release, and to date has shipped 1,000,000 copies worldwide.

Poker[link]

Sully Erna participated in the 2006 World Series of Poker main event in which he made a brief appearance on the ESPN broadcast of the event; it was mentioned that he was the last of the celebrity entries. He finished in 713th out of 8,773 earning him $17,730.^[11]

Erna also played in the 2007 World Series of Poker main event. After the elimination of Tobey Maguire, Erna was the final celebrity remaining. He placed in 237th out of a field of 6,358, earning $45,422. To complement his placing at the World Series of Poker, he placed 2nd in a preliminary event at Bellagio's 5 Diamond World Poker Classic, where he lost to J.C Tran but earned $307,325 as a consolation.^[12]

Sully also competed in the 2007 VH1 Celebrity Rock and Roll Tournament with Ace Frehley, Vinnie Paul, Scott Ian, and Dusty Hill. Erna took second, losing to Scott Ian of Anthrax.

Haiti 2010 earthquake[link]

Godsmack, Creed and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello are some of the music luminaries who have partnered with multi-media company DC3 Music Group to raise enough money to pack an MD-80 airplane with supplies and medical personnel and send it to Haiti. According to a press release, the plane was scheduled to leave from Long Beach, California on Wednesday (January 27) and bring 10,000 pounds of medical supplies, along with doctors and medical staff, to the city of Port-au-Prince, which was devastated by a massive earthquake on January 12, 2010.

Erna said in a statement, "Since I can't be there to help in person, I want to make my contribution as a fellow human being to give what I can while I'm in the fortunate situation that I am to help those that are so unfortunate in this time of tragedy."^[13]

Controversy[link]

On October 9, 2010, Godsmack was performing at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, when during the song Whatever, Erna spewed a lengthy diatribe at the audience, and when some fans weren't enjoying the show, Erna said: "You like Creed? You like Scott Stapp? He's a faggot!" Erna later issued an apology to Stapp and the members of Creed for his derogatory remarks, and explained that there had been several years of bad blood between himself and Stapp, following an incident in which Stapp refused an autograph request from a fan, which was witnessed by Erna.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Car accident[link]

Erna was quite shaken up from the three-car chain-reaction accident in Methuen, Massachusetts he was involved in when his vehicle and two others collided at an intersection. "He's deeply concerned for the girl who was hurt in this unfortunate accident," said his manager, Paul Geary, in reference to 25-year-old Chelmsford resident Lindsay Taylor. "Sully's thankful he got out with a split lip and some aches and pains, but he's traumatized about the girl," according to the April 17, 2007 Boston Herald.

Taylor was sitting in the back seat of a dark blue Toyota Camry that collided with the H3 driven by Erna. The details of the crash are still unclear to this day. The crash occurred on a dark night, around 7 p.m. on the ramp leading from I-93 south to Route 213.

Taylor was initially reported to be in a coma and on life support with critical injuries as a result of the crash, and was upgraded to serious status after she was flown to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ^[15] and has since returned home, reportedly with brain injuries. On March 31, 2008, Taylor filed an auto negligence lawsuit against Erna in Federal Court.^[16] In 2010 Sully Erna actually agreed to a 3+ million dollar settlement to the court case. In addition: Taylor is also set to receive $4,637 a month for five years with 3 percent annual increase, $5,492 per month for fourteen years beginning in 2015 with 3 percent annual increase, $9,659 per month for life, guaranteed for 11 years beginning in 2029 with 3 percent annual increase.^[17]

Religion[link]

Erna is a practicing Wiccan. His religion influences some of his songwriting to include the song "Spiral." He has stated publicly, however, that he "didn't want to be the poster boy for witchcraft",^[18] and does not necessarily capitalize on his religion for providing fame to the band. In fact, the issue of his religious beliefs never comes up unless he is asked in an interview. Godsmack guitarist Tony Rombola has even stated in interviews that Erna is the only religious member of the band.

It is commonly misbelieved that the Godsmack song "Voodoo" is about his religious beliefs, but truly it is based on the movie The Serpent and the Rainbow.

Gear[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sully Erna official website
• Sully Erna at the Internet Movie Database

Shannon Larkin
Shannon Larkin performing at the Sabian Live Show at the Anaheim CA Sheraton Hotel
Background information
Birth name	James Shannon Larkin
Born	(1967-04-24) April 24, 1967 (age 45) Hagerstown, Maryland
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock, alternative metal, post-grunge, alternative rock, funk metal, hardcore punk, thrash metal
Instruments	Drums, vocals
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Universal/Republic
Associated acts	Godsmack Another Animal Candlebox Ugly Kid Joe Snot Amen Vanilla Ice Souls at Zero Wrathchild America Black Sabbath Stone Sour Glassjaw
Website	Official Godsmack website

Shannon Larkin, born James Shannon Larkin on April 24, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois, is a musician best known for being the drummer of the heavy metal band Godsmack. He replaced the previous drummer Tommy Stewart in June 2002. Prior to Godsmack, his previous bands were Amen, Candlebox, Back Alley Gators, Ugly Kid Joe, and Souls at Zero (formerly Wrathchild America).

Shannon played drums for Godsmack for their albums Faceless, IV their EP The Other Side, and their newest album The Oracle.

Shannon Larkin started playing drums at the age of 10. Although his parents were not musicians, they were still music lovers and turned Shannon on to bands like The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who. However, it was his older sister who unknowingly ignited Shannon's passion to play by forcing him to repeatedly listen to her favorite album, Rush's Hemispheres. Then he turned on to Led Zeppelin, and then decided to ask his parents for a drum kit.