Godsmack reveal new lineup for their 2026 World Tour

Godsmack frontman Sully Erna talked about the band’s upcoming live CD and Blu-ray, “Live At Mohegan Sun,” which will be released on May 1 via Primary Wave, in a recent interview with TalkShopLive’s The Rock N Roll Channel, as per Blabbermouth. This performance was recorded during Godsmack‘s sold-out October 26, 2024 show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. It is the final show with the iconic Godsmack lineup, which consists of drummer Shannon Larkin, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and vocalist-guitarist Sully Erna. Rombola and Larkin decided to retire. Erna made this statement regarding Rombola and Larkin’s departure from Godsmack.

[Shannon] gave me the best years in this band. Tony as well. Those guys are just irreplaceable, as far as I can say, because they’re truly like brothers, and they always will be. And there’s no bad blood. A lot of people are, like, ‘Oh, what happened? You had a falling out?’ No, there’s nothing,” Erna explained. “They got to that point in their lives where they just didn’t wanna tour at this level anymore. It’s hard work. The road is a lonely place. Shannon got sober several years ago. It just didn’t feel fun for him anymore. The body gets beat up. We put ourselves to a lot, emotionally and physically, and they just wanted to go enjoy their lives now. And so we gave each other a big hug, and we wished them the best. We honor and respect their decision. And I think you’re gonna feel every bit of that emotion on [‘Live At Mohegan Sun’], because these guys, [director] Dan[iel E.] Catullo[III] and his whole team, [editor] Leslie [Atkins], and everybody who was a part of making this film happen really captured visually everything I would want a fan to see in a show, along with this retirement party that we did for Tony and Shannon and how emotional that was. I mean, our families were there, our daughters were there. I cried at least 12 times already, just watching the cuts, trying to get the edits right. ‘Cause it’s 30 years of my life, and they were truly the best parts of my life. So, yeah, closing that chapter, it took me a minute to kind of get ahold of it, but it’s coming. It’s a double live album. It sounds great. It looks great. It’s everything I think you’re gonna want. And I really hope everybody goes out there and gets it to experience it.

Erna acknowledged when the journalist pointed out that it’s practically unheard of for two band members to quit “on good terms” after two or three decades.

I’m not gonna lie — I had some bitterness at first. From the day they said, ‘Listen, this is the last one. I think we’re gonna finish this record. We’re gonna finish the touring cycle, and then that’s it.’ … And even though I understood it, and they had my blessing, they had my respect, and it wasn’t anything that kind of fell out on bad terms, it didn’t sit with me well. ‘Cause I felt like I’d worked so hard my whole life. I felt like I built this amazing thing with these guys and gave everyone their dream and they took mine away. And I was kind of experiencing that emotion for a while. And I found myself okay with it, and then really mad about it, and then finding my acceptance with it and then not finding my peace with it. And it was really like an emotional rollercoaster for me. And I’m still kind of on it a little bit, because I don’t really know what the future holds. But me and Robbie sat down. We had a good talk, and we felt like we have a lot of gas left in the tank. And we wanna get out there and honor the catalog, honor the music, honor this thing that we built and give the fans that. I feel good. I feel like I’m 25 years old. I’m not ready to go anywhere yet. So we’re gonna run this a little bit longer, and we’re gonna see how things go.

Sully made reference to Godsmack’s recent announcement of “The Rise Of Rock” 2026 tour, a North American run with special guests Stone Temple Pilots and Dorothy.

We have a strong lineup right now. I wanna mention this — this is the first time I’ve said this on any platform. So you and the fans are hearing this for the first time. But we have welcomed in a new guitar player named Sam Koltun, who’s amazing. He was actually playing with Dorothy. He’s played with some other bands along the way. And he came in for an audition. And I gotta tell you, the guy blew our mind. His attention to detail, his performance, his playing really elevated the frontline a little bit more than it was. And he’s just an incredible guitar player. So I want people to know that, ’cause I want them to welcome him into this project. He really loves the band. He honored the music. He honored what Tony played. And, and I gotta tell you, it sounds identical. It’s incredible how well he can play the stuff and put his own little flair to things. And for the first time we’re gonna mention Wade Murff, who is gonna be the new drummer at this point. And again, great guy, great player, strong, looks great visually. I think for people that are gonna come see Godsmack now, they’re gonna really feel at home when they hear the band and how we sound because I don’t think much has changed in that aspect, but there’s this new breath of life now too. There’s this thing that’s been like recharged, and it’s exciting.

Erna clarified when the interviewer hypothesised that Sully might have experienced a “sense of betrayal” regarding Shannon and Tony’s choice to leave Godsmack.

I wouldn’t say ‘betrayal’, though. That’s a harsh word, man. It was just a decision. It was a lifelong decision. Listen, Shannon has been on — what? — 40 albums. The guy’s played with [Black] Sabbath, Ugly Kid Joe, Wratchchild America, you name it. He’s done a lot of work, man. But listen, from the beginning, Godsmack has been a blue-collar work-horse band. We were never a part of the MTV culture. We were never part of the VH1culture. We were never a part of the pop scene. We were a blue-collar workboot band, and we made our career on touring and radio. And that is much harder than people may think, compared to the pop artists that go out there and just — whatever — they pop up and they sell a bazillion records and they’re the favorites to the Grammys or whatever else was out there doing their thing, and they don’t tour like we did, man. I can promise you that. The only band that even came close was Pantera, and they even came to us at one point when they’d seen our schedule. They go, ‘Holy shit. You guys just play a lot of shows.’ And we’re, like, ‘Isn’t that what everyone does?’ They’re like, ‘No, not that many.’ Seven in a row, one day off. Nine in a row, one day off. 11 in a row, one day off. That shit went on for three years, man. And we were like robots. So I’m really proud of what we built here, and I have no regrets. If this whole thing ended tomorrow, dude, I’m good. We lived a good life out here. But the reality is it’s not gonna end tomorrow. We’re gonna go out there. We’re ready to run again. Everything is good. The band sounds great. And we’re really excited to bring these new guys out and have some fun with them and with the audience.

GODSMACK — THE RISE OF ROCK WORLD TOUR 2026 DATES

• Thu May 7 – Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome to Rockville*†
• Sat May 9 – Camden, NJ – MMRBQ Festival – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
• Sun May 10 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
• Tue May 12 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
• Thu May 14 – Charlotte, NC – Truliant Amphitheater
• Sat May 16 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
• Sun May 17 – Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple*†
• Tue May 19 – Franklin, TN – FirstBank Amphitheater
• Thu May 21 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
• Sat May 23 – Huntsville, AL – Orion Amphitheater
• Sun May 24 – Orange Beach, AL – The Wharf Amphitheater
• Wed May 27 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
• Fri May 29 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
• Sat May 30 – Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Sponsored by Huntsman
• Fri Jun 12 – Kansas City, MO – Morton Amphitheater
• Sun Jun 14 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
• Tue Jun 16 – Grand Rapids, MI – Acrisure Amphitheater
• Thu Jun 18 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
• Sat Jun 20 – Tinley Park, IL – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
• Sun Jun 21 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
• Tue Jun 23 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
• Wed Jun 24 – Toronto, ON – RBC Amphitheatre
• Sat Jun 27 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
• Sun Jun 28 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
• Tue Jun 30 – Syracuse, NY – Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview
• Thu Jul 2 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
• Fri Jul 3 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater

Godsmack European Festival leg:

• Thu Jul 23 – Athens, Greece – Lycabettus Hill+*
• Sat Jul 25 – Plovid, Belgium – Hills of Rock Festival+*
• Sun Jul 26 – Belgrade, Serbia – Novi Hangar Luka Beograd+*
• Tue Jul 28 – Ghimbav, Romania – Rockstadt Extreme Fest+*
• Sat Aug 1 – Põhja-Tallinn, Estonia – Tallinn Rock Festival+*
• Thu Aug 6 – Villena, Spain – Leyendas del Rock+*
• Sat Aug 8 – Relvinha, Portugal – Vagos Metal Fest+*
• Sun Aug 9 – Madrid, Spain – Sala Riviera+*
• Tue Aug 11 – Barcelona, Spain – Razzmatazz+*
• Thu Aug 13 – Carhaix-Plouguer, France – Motocultor Festival+*
• TBA Aug – Sulingen, Germany – Reload Festival+*
• Sun Aug 16 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Dynamo Meta Fest+*

U.S. 

• Sat Sep 4 – Pryor, OK – Rocklahoma*
• Sun Sep 6 – El Paso, TX – Speaking Rock Casino**†
• Mon Sep 7 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
• Wed Sep 9 – Denver, CO – JUNKYARD
• Fri Sep 11 – Las Vegas, NV – Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino**†
• Sat Sep 12 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre – KUPD UFest*
• Tue Sep 15 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
• Thu Sep 17 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
• Sat Sep 19 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
• Sun Sep 20 – Corning, CA – Rolling Hills Casino and Resort**†
• Tue Sep 22 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater
• Thu Sep 24 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
• Sat Sep 26 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater – KQXR XFest*

* Festival Performance

** Dorothy Only

+ European Tour