GODSMACK's SULLY ERNA 'Wouldn't Be Surprised' If He Already Contracted COVID-19 And Got Over It

On Wednesday, April 8, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna took part in a Facebook Live chat with iHeartRadio. You can now watch the question-and-answer session below.

Asked how he is coping with quarantine life during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Erna said: "I've gotta tell you, man, honestly, I have not, since day one, with this thing been one of the people that are flipping out about this. At the same time, I'm following the rules, I'm being responsible, because I know there's other people that are way more in jeopardy than I am.

"I actually wouldn't even be surprised — I'll tell you a quick story — if I already got COVID and got over it, because right in the middle to late part of February, I went to L.A. with my daughter, a couple of her friends and my girlfriend, which we do every year for her February vacation," he continued. "And two days after I got off the plane, I got this really weird flu. And I remember it feeling foreign. It was, like, 'Ah, is this the flu or is it allergies?' It was the body chills, the body aches, it went into my chest — it was really feeling like it was getting my chest infected. I was coughing, coughing, coughing — dry cough. Like, every symptom that they say you get. I just didn't get the shortness-of-breath thing, but I'm assuming since I'm a runner and I sing a lot, I probably have a much bigger lung capacity than a lot of people. And then I'm thinking, well, maybe I didn't get it, 'cause no one else got sick. But I had to take Azithromycin [also known as Z-Pak]. This was before it was a thing, or being called the thing, so there was no test yet or whatever, so I really couldn't test. But my doctor was just, like, 'Hey, don't forget, you have a Z-Pak in your bathroom bag,' 'cause I keep one on me when I go on tour, just in case. So I took it, and it knocked out the chest respiratory stuff. But then I coughed for, like, a while — for days and days — and it probably took about 14 days to get rid of it. So I'm just wondering if I got this thing already and I'm immune to it now, which I'm hoping.

"So, even with that — not knowing or knowing if I had it or I didn't have it; I'm not sure — but it was a really foreign, weird-feeling flu. And so it makes me think, with all the symptoms, that maybe I caught an early dose of it."

Erna, who lives in New Hampshire, says that he has been obeying Gov. Chris Sununu's "stay-at-home" emergency order which went into effect late last month.

"My GODSMACK headquarters is about three or four miles up the street from my house, which also has a gym built into it," he said. "So I just go there. And I have a very small group of people around me at all times, but all those people are super responsible. They don't go anywhere, they're not in groups, they're not going to stores and hanging out with people. Either we're working, to do things like this, or in the gym working out and then back home. So I'm not going crazy because I'm isolated so much. I get out, I go for a run, I take a drive, I go to my studio, I work on some music, work in the gym and come back home, and that's about it. But at least I have human contact."

According to Sully, there are reasons to be optimistic about the economic turnaround once the crisis has passed.

"It's gonna take us a minute to get back," he said. "For sure, people are nervous, they are scared, they are fearful, they are trying to figure out how they're gonna keep their savings replenished or keep their houses or what's gonna happen with their jobs. But I will just say that it's all gonna work itself out. It's just gonna take a little time, because this thing did some real damage. But this isn't the end of the world; it's not Armageddon. If anything, people know that we're resilient and humans in general are resilient."

He continued: "I just wanna kind of inspire people by sending out good, positive messages like this video and like these other things that we have — our families and our friends — and people that we always complain about, 'Oh, I never have enough time with my kids. I never have time to see my friends anymore. I'm so busy. I work, I work, I work.' Well, God just gave you a gift, man. So, sit home and enjoy it, 'cause it's not gonna last forever and we will get back to our normal routine and things are gonna heal, including the economy. I just want people to stay positive about this, 'cause we are the only ones that can control what's gonna happen from this point forward. They will eradicate this virus — they will get rid of that part — but how we handle it and how we conduct ourselves from that point forward is gonna dictate how normal we become again. So just hang in there, man, and be responsible, but know that this is just a moment."

On Wednesday, GODSMACK released the video for the song "Unforgettable", the latest single from 2018's "When Legends Rise". The band invited 400 music students to join them for the shoot, which took place at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.

"Unforgettable" comes on the heels of last year's career first for GODSMACK as they scored three No. 1 singles from "When Legends Rise", including "Under Your Scars", "Bulletproof" and the title track.