Will Hunt Confirms He Will Not Join Godsmack for 2026 Tour Due to Schedule Conflicts

Will Hunt won't be hitting drums for Godsmack when they launch their 2026 The Rise Of Rock world tour. His main gig with Evanescence clashes with the dates. The announcement clears up questions about whether he'd stick around after filling in during their spring 2025 European run. Hunt stepped in for Godsmack across Europe after Shannon Larkin and Tony Rombola left in April 2025. 

"When I did that [European tour], it was a thing of that he didn't know what was gonna transpire after that, after that European tour," Hunt said in an interview with Mark Strigl. "[It was] something they already had booked. And much in the same way as I landed in Evanescence, they had those dates on the books, and they needed to finish it out." Hunt stays loyal to Evanescence, but he had nothing but praise for Erna's drive.

“Sully [Erna], he's a lifer, man. He's been doing this his whole life, just like me. I think that that doesn't stop. I think that we all wanna keep going. And so when I initially got brought in, it was just, like, ‘Okay, I'm just gonna finish this out. I don't know what I'm gonna do.' And I said, ‘Well, that's okay, because I'm still in Evanescence, and I've got no plans to leave.' And so that's what shook out for that."

Larkin came aboard in 2002 after stints with WRATHCHILD and UGLY KID JOE. Rombola has handled lead guitar and backing vocals since the mid-1990s, and both are working on new tracks now.

The Rise Of Rock 2026 tour brings Stone Temple Pilots and DOROTHY along for the ride. Live Nation is backing the whole thing. It starts on May 10 in Bristow, Virginia, at Jiffy Lube Live and finishes on Sept. 26 at Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater in Nampa, Idaho.