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| Birth Name(s) : Sully Erna, Tony Rombola, Robbie Merrill, Tommy Stewart |
Date of Birth: 1995 |
| Status:
N/A
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Partner:
N/A |
| Profession:
Musician |
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Full Godsmack Biography
| New England-bred Godsmack is know for their pointed, personal songs and have been called one of rock's most assertive, emotive and aggressive bands. They formed in 1995 and recorded their first LP for $2,500 as an independent record. |
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Additional Godsmack Biography
Godsmack are an American Grammy-nominated hard rock/heavy metal band from Massachusetts formed in 1996. They have sold over 10 million albums in the US alone and sold over 11 million worldwide. They have also had two #1 albums ("Faceless" and "IV"). Along with major-American success in their albums. They have had thirteen top ten modern rock singles as well as four modern rock #1 singles, a debut album selling over 5 million copies in 2 years and have also been nominated for three Grammys.
Said Sully, "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."
In the summer of 1998, Republic/Universal Records signed the band. D'arco was replaced by Tommy Stewart, and All Wound Up was re-mastered. The finished self-titled debut CD Godsmack hit the shelves six weeks later, leading to the band's first headlining tour, "The Voodoo Tour". After the CD's release the band hit the road playing club shows as well as playing Ozzfest and Woodstock '99 before a crowd of 250,000. They then supported Black Sabbath.
With Shannon Larkin (ex Ugly Kid Joe, Souls At Zero) replacing Tommy Stewart, Godsmack went back into the studio yet again to record a new album that was released in 2003 . Faceless debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 selling 211,000 copies and later the CD would go on to sell over 1 million copies in the United States alone.
The lead single "Straight Out of Line" received a Grammy nomination for "Best Hard Rock Performance".Cover of The Other Side
In 2004, they were opening for Metallica's Madly in Anger with the World Tour, while headlining with Dropbox in the summer. Then they did acoustic shows for their newly released album The Other Side in the fall of 2004, while still opening for Metallica.
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 be following the release of the album with an acoustic tour.
In an interview regarding rumors of an "indefinite hiatus", the band's singer, Sully Erna, is 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."
Alice in Chains is believed to be the primary influence upon Godsmack and it is speculated that the band got their name from an Alice in Chains song of the same name. Tony was previously in the New Hampshire based cover band 'Crushed Tomatoes' which kept up on the latest music from bands of the early 90's such as Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, as well as classics from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Ozzy Osbourne. In an interview with MTV upon the death of Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna stated that Staley "was single-handedly the guy that got me to start singing.". Other bands cited by Godsmack members as their primary influences typically include Aerosmith, The Doors, Sepultura, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Metallica, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath.
Godsmack has been frequently compared to Alice in Chains throughout their history. Sully Erna has cited Staley as his primary influence. The band's name is identical to the title of an Alice in Chains song from the album Dirt, being God Smack. The sun logo of Godsmack is similar to the sun logo of Alice in Chains. The band even transcended from their heavy sound to a more mellow acoustic sound on their album The Other Side in the same manner Alice in Chains did in Sap and Jar of Flies. More recently, Godsmack have 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."
There has been much debate to how the band obtained their name. It has been believed that Godsmack took their name from the Alice in Chains song "God Smack" from the album Dirt. However, Erna has claimed otherwise: "That's where we picked the name from. 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". However, many believe that this was part of Godsmack's attempt to distinguish themselves from the band that they have been compared to most frequently. Robbie Merril, the bassist for Godsmack, in the home video DVD "Smack This" stated "we stole it from Alice in Chains". |
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Godsmack Quote(s)
| There's no rap, no techno, no gadgets: it's a hard, loud rock record. Period. No tricks. |
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