Creed (band)

Creed
Touring bassist Brett Hestla, Scott Phillips, Scott Stapp, and Mark Tremonti (l-r)
Background information
Origin	Tallahassee, Florida, United States
Genre(s)	Post-grunge Alternative rock
Years active	1994–2004
Label(s)	Blue Collar Records Sony BMG Music Entertainment Wind-up Records
Associated acts	Naked Toddler Mattox Creed Alter Bridge
Website	www.creed.com
Former members
Scott Stapp Mark Tremonti Scott Phillips Brian Marshall (1995 - 2000) Brett Hestla (touring member)

Creed was a Grammy Award-winning rock band from Tallahassee, Florida that became a very successful mainstream rock band of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band announced its break-up on June 4, 2004 after three multiplatinum albums.

History

Creed originally came together in Tallahassee, Florida in 1995 as Naked Toddler when Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti, college friends, got together and started writing songs. They soon added bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. Brian Marshall came up with the band name "Creed", taken from the name of his former band, Mattox Creed. They then found work at a live music bar, where they impressed owner Jeff Hanson enough to let them play at one of his bigger venues known as Floyd's Music Store on the Tennessee Street Strip in Tallahassee. Hanson liked the band so much that he convinced producer John Kurzweg to record the band.

My Own Prison

Their debut album My Own Prison was independently released and only cost them $6,000 to produce, and distributed to Florida radio stations. This drew the attention of several labels that agreed to see the band, only to pass. Rejected, Creed was playing a small gig when Diana Meltzer from Wind-Up Records heard the group. She had heard their independent album, and after hearing them live, signed the band to her label. After a remix to make it more radio friendly, My Own Prison was re-released by Wind-up Records across the country. The album was a surprise success, reaching the Top 40 on the Billboard Top 200, and spinning off several singles ("My Own Prison," "Torn," "What's This Life For," and "One") that topped the rock radio charts. The band's hit song "My Own Prison" was also featured as a live performance on the charity album, Live in the X Lounge.

Human Clay

Their second album, Human Clay, was released in 1999 and debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart at number one, based on the strength of its first single, "Higher", which spent several weeks on the top of the rock radio charts. It wasn't until early 2000 that the single crossed over onto pop radio going to the Top Ten on the Billboard Pop Chart, and Creed became a household name. Its follow-up, "With Arms Wide Open," also hit number one that fall. Meanwhile, Brian Marshall particularly offended many fans when he criticized Pearl Jam on a Seattle radio station (KNDD). He was soon kicked out of the band, and Brett Hestla (Virgos Merlot, Dark New Day) took over on the Human Clay tour, and subsequent tours. Around that time, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit bad-mouthed Stapp at New York's Krock 92.3 "Dysfunctional Family Picnic Concert" where they were both performing. In response to this, Scott Stapp invited Fred Durst to an open boxing match which Durst declined.^[1].

Weathered

In the fall of 2001, "My Sacrifice", the first single off of Creed's last album Weathered, was used in a series of promotional tribute videos made by World Wrestling Entertainment. They also had "Young Grow Old," a B-side to the 1999 release Human Clay, featured as the official theme song for World Wrestling Entertainment WWE's Backlash pay-per-view event in April 2002. In early 2002, "Bullets" was released as a single, along with a costly, special effects-laden video. The song and video were possibly Creed's least successful since achieving mainstream success. However, Creed rebounded quickly, with one of the summer's biggest hits, "One Last Breath". Stapp was involved in a car accident in April 2002 and it had seemed that the tour that they had planned was not going to happen. However, Stapp recovered in time to appear in the last few shows. "Don't Stop Dancing" was a minor hit for Creed in late 2002/early 2003.

Demise and subsequent activities

On June 4, 2004, it was announced that Creed had broken up. Stapp began the process of recording a solo album, The Great Divide, collaborating with Roadrunner Records recording artist Goneblind, while the other band members (including former bassist Brian Marshall) formed a new band, Alter Bridge, with Myles Kennedy. Touring bassist Brett Hestla has since joined the band Dark New Day. On November 22nd, 2004 they released their Greatest Hits. Since Creed's disbanding, many fans have been waiting for a reunion. The three members currently involved in Alter Bridge have stated that Creed is solely in their past, and will not reunite any time in the future. Stapp had at times left the door open to reunite with his former band members, yet his recent claims reflect only that Creed is in the past.

Controversies

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the for details. (September 2007)

Despite the band's continual dismissals of the label, Creed is sometimes labeled Christian rock due to the fact that earlier albums focus on questions of faith, Christianity, and eternity. The band was never signed to a Contemporary Christian music label, nor did it perform in Christian Music venues or get any widespread regular play on Christian Radio. However, the word creed itself (also the bands' namesake), denotes a popularly Christian theological concept, of absolute individual belief, usually monotheistic. Also, themes within their musical titles such as Human Clay, My Sacrifice and Arms Wide Open contain allusion to Christian theology.

Creed was sued in 2003 by four concert goers who claimed Scott Stapp "was so intoxicated and/or medicated that he was unable to sing the lyrics of a single Creed song" at a December 29, 2002 concert in Chicago. The lawsuit was later dismissed and the concert goers who filed the suit were mocked in a Daily Show segment conducted by Rob Corddry. Creed has suffered criticism that they are unoriginal in their sound. The most common criticism of Creed is the resemblance which Scott Stapp's voice bears to that of Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder.

Collaboration with World Wrestling Entertainment

For many years, Creed collaborated with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) by allowing many of their songs to be played for promotions (such as a song being the soundtrack for a pay per view). In 2001, when WWE began airing videos highlighting many different Wrestlers' careers as well as video highlights of the rigors of the road for wrestlers, a Creed song almost always was the background music; "My Sacrifice" being the most-used song. Even following the breakup of Creed, Scott Stapp and Alter Bridge have both contributed music to WWE.

Band members

• Scott Stapp - Vocals
• Mark Tremonti - Guitar, vocals, bass guitar on Weathered
• Scott Phillips - Drums, percussion, keyboards
• Brian Marshall (departed in 2000) - Bass guitar

Touring members

• Brett Hestla - Bass guitar (Touring member after the departure of Brian Marshall)

Discography

Albums

Album cover	Album information
	My Own Prison Released: July 24, 1997 Label: Wind-Up Records Chart Positions: #22 (Billboard 200) #1 (Heatseekers) RIAA Certification: 6x Platinum Singles: 1. "My Own Prison" 2. "One" 3. "Torn" 4. "What's This Life For"

Album cover	Album information
	Human Clay Released: September 28, 1999 Label: Wind-Up Records Chart Positions: #1 (Billboard 200) #29 (U.K. Albums Chart) RIAA Certification: 11x Platinum Singles: 1. "Higher" 2. "With Arms Wide Open" 3. "What If" 4. "Are You Ready?"

Album cover	Album information
	Weathered Released: November 20, 2001 Label: Wind-Up Records Chart Positions: #1 (Billboard 200) RIAA Certification: 6x Platinum Singles: 1. "My Sacrifice" 2. "Don't Stop Dancing" 3. "Weathered" 4. "Bullets" 5. "One Last Breath"

Album cover	Album information
	Greatest Hits Released: November 22, 2004 Label: Wind-Up Records Chart Positions: #15 (Billboard 200) RIAA Certification: Platinum

Singles

Billboard's Artist Chart History[1]

Milestones

Album sales

• All three studio albums released went multi-platinum.
• My Own Prison went 6x platinum in the US.
• Human Clay went 11x platinum in the US.
• Weathered went 6x platinum in the US.
• The Greatest Hits went platinum in the US.
• My Own Prison, Human Clay, and Weathered are on the list of the top 100 selling albums of all time in the US. [2]
• Creed has sold 30 million albums in the US, making them one of the top selling artists ever in the US.

In popular culture

Google breaks the results to display creed links and then resumes results for "Worst Band in the World"

• The song "What If appeared in the Scream 3 soundtrack
• The song "Higher" was played in the theatrical trailers for Titan A.E., but the song did not appear either in the movie or on the soundtrack
• The song "What's This Life For" was in the Halloween H20: 20 Years Later soundtrack
• The song "Who's Got My Back?" appeared in the video game NHL 2003
• The song "Higher" was in the movie The Skulls
• The song "Bound & Tied" was featured in the Dragon Ball Z Movie Return of Cooler
• Creed and Robby Krieger did a song "Roadhouse Blues" for the Woodstock 1999 (album)
• The song "Wrong Way" was in the End of Days soundtrack
• The song "One Last Breath" appeared in the movie See No Evil
• The song "Pity For A Dime" was in Jailbait!
• The song "Stand Here With Me" featured in the video game Project Gotham Racing 4
• The song "My Own Prision" appeared in the movie A Man Apart
• The song "Bullets" was featured in the video game MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf
• When a Google search for "Worst band in the world" is performed, Google breaks the results and displays: See results for: Creed. This seems to be a google easter egg since unlike a Google Bombing campaign it's not affecting the ranking or order of the results.

Records and accomplishments

• Creed was the first rock act to have four #1 singles from a debut album.
• The song "Higher" topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts for 18 weeks, a record.
• Their album Weathered debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there for eight weeks, a record which they share with The Beatles.
• The video for "With Arms Wide Open" is declared the 92nd greatest video ever by VH1.

Awards

• Billboard 'Rock Artist of the Year' (1998)
• Billboard 'Rock Artist of the Year' (1999)
• Billboard 'Rock Artist of the Year' (2000)
• Mawn Bawnd of All Time - Infinity A.D.
• Grammy for Best Rock Song "With Arms Wide Open" (2001)
• Radio Music Award for 'Rock Song of the Year' - "With Arms Wide Open" (2000)
• Radio Music Award for 'Rock Group of the Year' (2000)
• VH1 award – 'Welcome To The Big Time' (Best Newcomer) (2000)
• VH1 award – '2 for 2' (2 hit albums in a row) (2000)
• VH1 award – 'Group of the Year' (2000)
• VH1 award – 'Song of the Year' – "Higher" (2000)
• American Music award – 'Favorite Pop Album' (Human Clay) (2001)
• American Music award – 'Favorite Alternative Artist' (2001)
• American Music award – 'Favorite Alternative Artist' (2003)
• American Music award – 'Favorite Pop/Rock band/Duo/Group' (2003)
• People’s Choice award for 'Favorite Group' (2003)
• Billboard Catalog 'Artist of the Year' (2001)
• Billboard Catalog 'Album of the Year' (2001)
• Billboard 'Rock Track of the Year'- "One" (1999)
• Billboard 'Duo/Group of the Year' (2002)
• Catalog 'Artist of the Year' (2002)
• Catalog 'Album of the Year' (2002)
• VH1 Award – 'Album of the Year' (2002)
• NARM Awards – 'Best Selling Rock Records' – Human Clay album (2001)
• NARM awards – 'Best Selling Chart-making Recordings – Human Clay (2001)

References

External links

• Creed's official website
• CreedFeed
• Creed on Allmusic.com