Sully Erna
Biography Sully Erna
Salvatore Paul "Sully" Erna
born February 7, 1968 is the American vocalist and harmonica player for the American hard rock band Godsmack. He is also a guitarist, percussionist and pianist, performing these on albums and at live shows. He was ranked 47th in the Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists by Hit Parader.
Sully was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He began playing drums at the age of three. 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-uncle was a famous composer in Sicily, where every year they honor his music and his pictures are hung in a museum. 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, Motorhead, Rush, and Alice in Chains.
Erna is a practicing Wiccan. His religion influences some of his songwriting to include the song "Spiral" from Godsmack's second album Awake and "Releasing the Demons" from their third album Faceless. He has stated publicly, however, that he "didn't want to be the poster boy for witchcraft", 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. It is commonly believed that the Godsmack song "Voodoo" is about his heroin addiction, but, in fact is the advocate of a favorable motion towards the story of "The Serpent and the Rainbow."
