Creed is an American rock band that formed in 1994 in Tallahassee, Florida. For the majority of its existence, the band consisted of lead vocalist Scott Stapp, guitarist and vocalist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips. Creed released two studio albums, My Own Prison in 1997 and Human Clay in 1999, before Marshall left the band in 2000. The band's third album, Weathered, was released in 2001, with Tremonti handling bass guitar. Creed disbanded in 2004; Stapp pursued a solo career while Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips went on to found the band Alter Bridge with Myles Kennedy in 2004.
In 2009, after months of speculation, Creed reunited for a fourth album, Full Circle, and actively toured until 2012. Since then, Creed has been on hiatus while the instrumental members have remained active with Alter Bridge; Stapp has continued his solo career and joined the band Art of Anarchy in 2016. Tremonti also formed his own band, Tremonti, in 2011.
Creed is often recognized as one of the prominent acts of the post-grunge movement that began in the mid-1990s. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Creed released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, with their album Human Clay being certified diamond. Creed has sold over 28 million records in the United States,[1] has sold over 53 million albums worldwide,[2] and was the ninth best-selling artist of the 2000s.[3] However, Creed has been negatively received by some critics and listeners, with the band having been listed by readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the worst artist of the 1990s.[4]
Contents
1 History
1.1 Early years (1994–1996)
1.2 My Own Prison and rise to fame (1997–1998)
1.3 Human Clay and Marshall's departure (1999–2000)
1.4 Weathered and break-up (2001–2004)
1.5 Reunion, Full Circle and 2012 tour (2009–2012)
1.6 Hiatus (2013–present)
2 Musical style and influences
3 Legacy and reception
4 Awards and nominations
5 Band members
5.1 Timeline
6 Discography
7 References
8 External links
History
Early years (1994–1996)
Founding member, vocalist Scott Stapp
Creed's origins lie in 1994 in Tallahassee, Florida.[5] Founding members vocalist Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti had been classmates in high school and friends at Florida State University.[6] Upon reuniting, Stapp and Tremonti realized that they had a mutual love for writing music and performing. After multiple discussions and times spent writing songs, several of which addressed themes of Christian theology and spirituality due to Stapp's religious background as the stepson of a Pentecostal minister, the duo held auditions which led to the recruitment of bassist Brian Marshall, drummer Scott Phillips, and rhythm guitarist Brian Brasher to complete the quintet. This five-piece line-up lasted through 1994, though Brasher left the band in 1995. Creed then decided to remain as a four-piece band. The four musicians had already written and collaborated on four of the songs that would go on to become tracks on Creed's chart-topping debut album, My Own Prison. The band found local success and started to play shows in bars and small venues throughout Tallahassee. Stapp wrote in 2012 that Creed first performed as "Naked Toddler" at Yianni's in Tallahassee; the name was picked up by Tremonti from a headline in that day's newspaper, but the reaction that night to the name was negative. The group was trying to find inspiration for a better name when Marshall said he had been in a band called Mattox Creed. Stapp latched onto the Creed part, and the band agreed.[5][7]
My Own Prison and rise to fame (1997–1998)
Wanting "a real show at a club", they managed to persuade the owner of a bar in Tallahassee to book them by claiming that they could guarantee an audience of 200 people.[8] Owner and manager Jeff Hanson later told HitQuarters that the band had played mostly cover versions, but two original songs stood out and impressed the manager so much that he promptly signed them to his management and promotions company and set about developing their act.[9] For their first recordings he matched the band up with John Kurzweg, a producer and friend of Hanson's who he felt was an appropriate fit. Together they recorded their debut album for $6,000, which was funded by Hanson.[9] The album, titled My Own Prison, was initially self-released on their own label, Blue Collar Records, selling 6,000 copies throughout the state of Florida.
My Own Prison had been circulating around the music industry for a while when, in May 1997, Diana Meltzer from Wind-Up Records heard the album for the first time and decided almost immediately that she wanted to sign them to the label,[10] which had recently dropped Baboon over the latter's reluctance to alter their image and sound to suit the label's demands. Meltzer later said that she heard "an arena band".[10] Within the same week, Meltzer, together with Wind-up president Steve Lerner, CEO Alan Meltzer, and A&R representative Joel Mark, flew to Tallahassee to see Creed perform live and decide for certain whether to offer them a contract. "Seeing the energy in the room when Scott Stapp stepped up to the mic, and hearing his powerful voice fill the room, alongside Mark Tremonti's now legendary guitar riffs and that big Creed anthemic rock sound, was all I needed," she told HitQuarters.[10] According to Tremonti in his "Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction" video, Creed had been rejected by Arctic and Cherry Universal Records before Wind-Up flew down to sign them. The band has been signed with Wind-Up records ever since. Stapp and Marshall originally signed the contract in blood; causing it to need to be reprinted.[9]
Bassist Brian Marshall
My Own Prison was remixed, given a more radio-friendly sound, and re-released by Wind-up Records in 1997. Four singles were released from the album: "My Own Prison", "Torn", "What's This Life For", and "One". Each of these songs reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, making Creed the first band to accomplish such a feat with a debut album.[6] With little MTV exposure, media coverage, or label support, My Own Prison sold extremely well, moving over six million copies and going six times platinum. Creed continued to top year-end charts and was recognized as the Rock Artist of the Year at the 1998 Billboard Music Awards. My Own Prison was also the highest-selling heavy music record of 1998 on Nielsen SoundScan's Hard Music chart.[11] The band's hit song "My Own Prison" was also featured as a live performance on the charity album Live in the X Lounge in 1998. The band covered Alice Cooper's song "I'm Eighteen" for The Faculty soundtrack in 1998.[12] Critical reception toward My Own Prison was mostly favorable. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic gave it four out of five stars and said that Creed "work well within their chicken tender dinner" despite "basically [falling] into the category of post-Seattle bands who temper their grunge with a dose of Live earnestness."[13] The album lyrically deals with themes of questioning and struggling with faith and spirituality.
