Sully Erna Recalls Story of Meeting Rush’s Neil Peart

Godsmack is currently on tour in Canada, and among the many great things the Great White North has given the world, Rush is easily on a shortlist of the greatest.

Frontman Sully Erna recently spoke with WMMR's Sara and recalled meeting legendary drummer Neil Peart with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin and the funny interaction the two drummers had:

"Me and my drummer Shannon, who idolized Neil, finally got to meet him several years ago. It was great to just hang backstage with him and sit and chat. He doesn't really meet many people anymore. He's gone through a crazy life of his own, but it was really nice to kind of share stories with him and tell him how important he's been to us.

"So, they [Rush] were retiring. We got to see the second to last show [of their R40 Live tour.] So, Shannon says [to Neil], 'Are you really done?' And he's like, 'Yeah, I think I'm done.' But then Shannon goes, 'Yeah, but you're still going to do side projects or something, right?' He's like, 'Yeah, no, I'm pretty much done.' And then [Shannon] goes, 'Well, what about just having a drum kit in your basement? Are you ever going to hold sticks again?' And he put his arm around Shannon and goes, 'You know what, son? I think I've done about everything I can do on the drums.' And Shannon goes, 'Yes, you have, sir!' and he walked away."

Godsmack will be returning to performing stateside on July 5 when they perform at the official UFC International Fight Week Concert in Las Vegas. A full list of tour dates can be found at Godsmack.com.

This interview can be heard in its entirety below.

Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.