Sully Erna of Godsmack has gathered some of his best friends in music for his “Sully & Friends: Live From the Living Room” marathon fundraiser to benefit The Scars Foundation, which he founded.
With the rise of suicides, bullying, addiction, abuse, and so many other challenges, The Scars Foundation is dedicated to providing resources and tools to educate and empower people on a global level that struggle with these burdens. The August 6th benefit will stream on his YouTube channel and the Foundation’s Facebook page at 8:00 PM (ET)/5:00 PM (PT) and will feature special sets from Godsmack as well as Erna’s solo material, accompanied by Chris Lester and Máiréad Nesbitt. The special will also include performances from Aaron Lewis (Staind), Brent Smith & Zach Myers of Shinedown, Papa Roach, Mike Mushok & Adam Gontier of Saint Asonia, Nuno Bettencourt and Clint Lowery (Sevendust).
“I had always looked for ways to give back and help others in some way after reaching certain levels of success in my life,” Sully Erna says. “But I could never really figure out where to dedicate my time and attention and what was important to me, or where I even had experience to offer. One day I started thinking about my own life and being a survivor of such an extremely rough inner city and that’s where all my experience was. It was all the battle wounds and scars I’ve carried that made me stronger and made me the man I am today. Instead of being ashamed of my imperfections, or hiding from them, I learned how to embrace them and grow from those experiences. I want to share that with people and lend my stories, my experiences, and my theories on how you can overcome challenging times rather than letting them ruin your life.”
Erna continued, “And that’s why the Scars Foundation is so important to me. It’s personal. It’s my life. And it’s important that people who struggle with these mental health issues and ‘imperfections’ or ‘Scars’ as we call them, learn how to embrace them, and show them to the world loudly and proudly! I hope the work we do with TSF inspires people to come forward and share their stories so that those stories inspire more people to come forward and break the silence and internal struggles. Just remember you’re not alone. And we’re all imperfectly perfect. Just the way we’re supposed to be!”
The Livestream will feature a live ticker displaying how much money is being raised throughout the event, and a 10-day auction will advance the event with a variety of Godsmack instruments (listed below); bids can be placed here. Proceeds from the live event and auction will benefit The Scars Foundation. All donations made through The Scars Foundation efforts will go to benefit those programs with a proven track record of effectiveness in addressing mental health issues.
Auction items include:
Four guitars, signed by all the members of Godsmack and a custom drum kit:
TAKEMINE 12 STRING (BLONDE)
Used to record AVALON and during the Avalon touring cycle
TAKAMINE 12 STRING (RED)
Used to record Godsmack’s song “Serenity” as well as on several Godsmack tours and TV appearances
TAKAMINE TUBE 6 STRING (BIG BODY)
Used to record Sully Erna’s “My Light” and seen on the “Journey To Avalon” video
TAKAMINE 6 STRING CUTAWAY
Sully Erna solo live guitar on Hometown Life tour. Also used to record “A Different Kind Of Tears” and “Don’t Comfort Me”
FIVE PIECE GREEN YAMAHA MAPLE CUSTOM
Drum set Sully used to record the 2001 Godsmack album Awake featuring iconic songs such as “Greed,” “Bad Magick” and “Awake”
