GODSMACK's SULLY ERNA Confirms He Dated LADY GAGA 'For A Hot Minute': 'She's An Incredibly Great Person'

In a new interview with Revolver, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna was asked about the recent revelation that he once dated pop superstar Lady Gaga. He responded: "Listen, I really don't have a lot to say on this topic. What I will tell you is that I have an immense amount of respect for her. I was introduced to her through a mutual friend. We clicked and dated for a hot minute, and there was nothing but respect for each other... There may be a lot of people in the world that think she's kooky and crazy because she's so wild with fashion and things like that, but she knows exactly what she's doing. She's an extremely smart businesswoman. And she's kind and super talented. I'm proud to say that I shared some great moments with her. I was able to meet Elton John through her. She's an incredibly great person and those are some very fond memories for me. And I'll leave it there."

Erna's relationship history with Gaga was first revealed by GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin this past January during an appearance on the "2020'd" podcast. Asked if it's true that Sully once dated Lady Gaga, Shannon said: "Yeah, that's true. And that's not, I don't think, a secret. I don't think Sully would bum out if people knew he dated Lady Gaga. I mean, she's hot, and she's mega talented. "

As for why Erna hadn't publicly disclosed that he was once romantically involved with Lady Gaga, Larkin said: "He's not Tommy Lee or whatever, or whoever the guy is now… What I mean by that is — Travis Barker, Tommy Lee, whatever — is dudes that have public girlfriends that are super famous too. But they're different than Sully. Sully's an East Coast guy. He's like me, Tony [Rombola, GODSMACK guitarist] and Robbie [Merrill, GODSMACK bassist] — we're East Coast dudes.

"L.A. bands and West Coast dudes, they're flashier, maybe, and their rock star-ism is more David Lee Roth than — I don't know — Eddie Vedder," Shannon explained. "You know what I mean? We're more Eddie Vedder, even though we're East Coast. We're probably even flashier than Eddie. He'll show up in an army jacket. You don't even recognize him. 'Oh my God. That's Eddie Vedder.' So we're in between them and the dudes with the flashy girls on their arms.

"So, did her date her? Yeah," Larkin repeated. "But did he ever tell anyone? No — except for his friends and us. The band, we knew… It was a brief thing, by the way."

Back in July 2019, Erna said that the GODSMACK ballad "Under Your Scars" was inspired by Lady Gaga.

"This song came to me shortly after I had spent some quality time with someone who I consider a dear friend, and have grown to admire and respect as one of the smartest and most talented artists today, Stefani Germanotta, who most of you may know as Lady Gaga," Sully said in a statement at the time. "In the short amount of time we hung out, she made me realize that we all have these imperfections, these wounds that we carry (whether they're physical or emotional) that cut so deep they can cripple us. These feelings leave us vulnerable, or embarrassed, or even unworthy at times. And our human nature — when they're exposed — is to shut down, rather than embrace them and realize that not only can we overcome them, but we can also become an inspiration to inspire others to have a voice and find their inner strength to show their scars off loudly and proudly to the world. Our 'Scars' are nothing more than our battle wounds from life and they helped mold you into who you are today."

GODSMACK's new album, "Lighting Up The Sky", arrived on February 24 via BMG.