During a recent chat with Shroom of the WEBN radio station, Sully Erna said Nikki Sixx wanted to be as cool as Steven Tyler but he couldn’t do it.
When asked who would introduce Godmack if they got into the Rock Hall, the vocalist replied:
“I’ve gotta say maybe — because being a Boston band and having that spirit instilled in us and the work ethic that goes along with the blue-collar workers of Boston, I’d like to see Aerosmith do it. I think that would be a great honor for us because those bands paved the way for bands like us.”
Erna Wanted To Be A Rock Star Like Joe Perry And Steven Tyler
He continued talking about Aerosmith’s influence on him:
“And although there was a lot of bands that we were inspired by growing up, for me, Aerosmith was one of the biggest influences, and Joe Perry was the reason — even though I started as a drummer — he was really the reason why I wanted to be a rock star. ‘Cause is anyone cooler-looking than Steven Tyler and Joe Perry? Probably not, right? People have tried to look as cool as them, like the Nikki Sixxes and whatever, but they’re not doing too good of a job with that.”
Erna Speaks On Why Perry Was Such An Influence On Him
Erna talked about Aerosmith and Joe Perry’s impact on him in a 2023 interview with the 99.7 The Blitz radio station. He explained:
“It wasn’t till I was about 13 or 14 years old and I opened up the ‘Live! Bootleg’ record and I’d seen Joe Perry holding up a B.C. Rich [guitar] with his hair covering his eyes and a blond streak. And I was just starting to get into weed and I was, like, ‘That’s what I wanna do right there.’ So it was no longer about being a musician; it was about being a rock star. So, ironically, Joe Perry is the one that kind of flipped me in that direction. And, of course, we just have a lot of history from our childhood going to Aerosmith shows and things like that. So it’s been very surreal.”
Aerosmith’s ‘Rocks’ is among the albums that changed Erna’s life. In an earlier chat with Classic Rock, he said he was into blues and jazz before them. But hearing Aerosmith got him into rock, especially after listening to ‘Last Child.’