GODSMACK

Godsmack is an American heavy metal band from Boston, Massachusetts formed in 1996. The band comprises founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Romala, bassist Robbie Merrill and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its formation, Godsmack has released four studio albums, one EP, three DVDs, and one greatest hits collection.

Godsmack has sold nearly 10 million albums in the United States. The band has had two number one albums (''Faceless'' and ''IV" (Godsmack album) on the Billboard 200. They have had fourteen top ten modern rock singles, making the only band to ever do so, as well as four modern rock number one singles, a debut album selling over five million copies in two years and have also been nominated for three Grammy Awards.

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 over two years in the now defunct band Strip Mind. Later that year, Erna called his friend Robbie Merrill, asking if he wanted to start writing music, and Merrill agreed. His new band The Scam formed with Erna on vocals, 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. The newly formed band started playing small bars in their hometowns of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Salem, New Hampshire. Godsmack started out as an Alice in Chains cover band, but moved on quickly to write its own music. Locally popular songs such as "Keep Away " and "Whatever" brought them quickly to the top of the hit charts in the Boston/New England area.

The band's name, according to Merrill in the ''Smack This!'' DVD, was stolen from the Alice in Chains' song "God Smack". However, Erna stated in a 1999 interview that "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's a godsmack.' The name stuck. 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".

In 1996, Tony Rombola and Joe D'arco joined Godsmack as the guitarist and drummer, after Richards left after finding out he had a six year old child and Stewart left due to personal differences. In the same year the band entered the studio for the first time, recording its first CD titled ''All Wound Up (album)'', with Erna playing drums and the rest of the band playing their respective instruments.

For the next two years, the band played throughout the Boston area. Eventually Godsmack's CD landed in the hands of "Rocko", a DJ for Boston radio station WAAF (FM). The radio station put "Keep Away (song)" into heavy rotation and the song rose to the number one spot at the station very quickly. 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 (Godsmack song)", which became the new local favorite on WAAF (FM).

In an interview 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".