Back in 2022, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna talked as if the band’s eighth studio release, Lighting Up The Sky, would be their final album.
“This is the last record we’re ever gonna do. This is the last run around the mill for us. We put every single ounce of energy and emotion into this album,” he told several outlets like 93X and the Everblack podcast, describing it as a full-stop moment for the group’s studio output.
He wasn’t claiming Godsmack were calling it quits, but he did suggest their time making new records might be over: “I’m not saying the band may be breaking up. What I’m saying is I think this may be the last body of work you get musically from the band.”
Since then, Godsmack have gone through major lineup changes, most notably, longtime guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin leaving earlier this year. Even with that chapter closing, Erna has repeatedly said the split was friendly and free of behind-the-scenes mess. And now, those changes also seem to have reshaped how he thinks about what comes next creatively.
In a recent appearance on Kylie Olsson’s Life In Six Strings podcast, Erna sounded much less locked in to the idea that the band’s recording days are finished. When he was asked if a tenth Godsmack album could happen, he answered: “I think there will. I said there wasn’t going to be, and at least I know there won’t be with the original members.
“Shannon and Tony have officially retired, and very honorably, and we’re still really good friends. There’s no drama there. I’m putting some new people in place. I’m still in some trial periods, but we have some plans coming in 2026 that we’re excited about. And it’s gonna be good. I mean, the band’s coming into the height of our career. All these years later, we’re hitting another moment where we’re doing our best attendance. And it’s kind of come full circle.”
With that shift in tone, it’s fair to wonder whether there were quieter creative tensions between Erna, Rombola, and Larkin, even if nobody is calling it conflict. For now, Godsmack are moving ahead, with a run of tour dates already on the calendar, hitting a couple of DWP Presents festivals (Welcome to Rockville & Sonic Temple) in 2026, plus a handful of dates in Europe.
