Godsmack is an American alternative metal/hard rock American band originally from Lawrence, Massachusetts. The current lineup consists of Sully Ema, Robbie Merrill, Tony Rombola and Shannon Larkin.
In February 1995, Sully Ema decided to start a band with Lee Richards on guitar, Robbie Merrill on bass and Tommy Stewart on drums, which they initially called The Scam. The name didn’t stick long, as they changed the name to Godsmack after they recorded their first demo. In 1996 Richards and Stewart left the band and were replaced by Tony Rombola and Joe D’Arco. For a few years the band would tour up and down the east coast, until in 1998 they signed with Universal/Republic Records.
In a mere six weeks later, the replaced D’Arco with former drummer Tommy Stewart and released their eponymous album; this was then followed by a series of shows and tours around America and Europe. The album was met with success, reaching certified gold by 2011. In 2000 they returned to the studio to record “Awake” which was later released in October. “Awake” reached four-times platinum, and the single “Vampire” garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2002.
In 2003, Stewart once again left the band, due to personal reasons, and was replaced by Shannon Larkin. The following record “Faceless” went on to sell over a million copies along with a massive sold out tour with Metallica. In 2007 the band celebrated their being a band for ten years with the release of “Good Times, Bad Times...Ten Years of Godsmack,” that included a DVD of their live acoustic performance at the House of Blues, Las Vegas.
After taking about a yearlong hiatus, the band reunited to record and release “The Oracle” in 2010. The band headlined the Mayhem Festival, an annual heavy metal festival that travels throughout the United States, followed by a tour with Staind. In 2014 Ema announced that the band was working on new material, and in August they released “1000hp.”
Gregory Alan Isakov
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