1995-Sully ErnaVocals
Tony RombolaGuitar1996-2024
Robbie MerrillBass
Tommy StewartDrums1995-2002
Shannon LarkinDrums2002-2024
Godsmack spent years playing clubs in the Boston area before the local radio station WAAF began spinning their independently released tracks "Keep Away" and "
Whatever," generating enough buzz to land the band a major-label deal with Republic/Universal Records in 1998. They earned a lot of new fans outside of Boston when they played Ozzfest in 1999 and 2000.
Their first album, All Wound Up, was made for $2,600 in 1997 and released on an independent label. In 2000, it was remixed and re-released with the title Godsmack after they signed with Universal Records.
Early in his career, Sully Erna was a practicing Wiccan - a Celtic spiritual religion focused on karma, the power of the Earth, and the principle that whatever energy you put out returns to you threefold. In later years he described himself as spiritually free-ranging rather than tied to any one religion.
Sully Erna is a longtime boxing fan and used to bring his trainer on tour. He got his first win as a boxing cornerman after David Tubbs' professional debut on August 16, 2019. It was a great start as Tubbs recorded a sensational 18-second knockout victory.
Their original name was The Scam. The name Godsmack came about when Sully Erna spent a day teasing drummer Tommy Stewart over a cold sore on his lip, only to wake up the next day with the same size cold sore in the same spot. Someone in the group said, "That's God smacking you for making fun of Tommy!" and bam, there was a great name. They knew it was also the name of an
Alice in Chains song (from the album
Dirt), but the name was too good to pass up.
Bassist Robbie Merrill has limited use of the middle finger on his left hand because of a birth defect. He's right handed, but plays left handed so he work the fretboard with all his functioning fingers.
One of Erna's many tattoos is of Animal, the drummer for The Muppets. He got it when he was 18 and considered himself primarily a drummer, with Animal his role model.
Erna's real name is Salvator Paul Erna, but he's always been known as Sully. His father, Salvatore Erna Sr., was a professional trumpet player originally from Sicily.
Godsmack's original guitarist, Lee Richards, left in 1996 to focus on fatherhood after discovering he had a 6-year-old child. He later joined a band called Dropbox; Erna played drums on their 2004 self-titled album, the only one they released.
Godsmack's signature tribal sound - heard on songs like "
Voodoo," "
Serenity," and "
Spiral" - stems from Sully Erna's lifelong passion for drumming and his Wiccan-rooted connection to rhythm, nature, and spiritual energy. Erna has said that growing up behind a drum kit gave him an instinctive feel for percussion-driven grooves that set Godsmack apart from other hard rock bands of their era. World music artists like Dead Can Dance are also an influence on their sound.
The band postponed their 2018 European tour after guitarist Tony Rombola's 34-year-old son died unexpectedly. "He literally lived the success of Godsmack through his Dad," Erna said when breaking the news to fans.
Godsmack were most popular in the late '90s and early '00s, but they kept fans happy with a steady release of albums over the next two decades. They did a fair amount of touring throughout their career, and until 2024 they still had three members from their debut album lineup. That year, Tony Rombola and Shannon Larkin (who joined in 2002) left the group, leaving Erna and Robbie Merrill as the remaining originals.
