Creed Biography

Scott Stapp - Vocals
Mark Tremonti - Guitar
Scott Phillips - Drums
Brian Marshall - Bass
(Click names for individual biographies)

Biography from Creed.com
It's not easy to find a success story as genuine as Creed's in popular culture these days when considering all of the carefully scripted rises to glory and the falls that inevitably follow careers built on hype. If any band in recent years can claim to have ascended strictly on its own merits, it's Creed. This Florida-based band went from zero to sixty, (or, more accurately, from zero to selling more than twenty million albums) by virtue of a combination of finger-on-the-pulse songs and powerful live performances. Their debut album, My Own Prison, has sold over six million albums to date. Creed's sophomore effort, Human Clay, debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts and has gone on to sell more than 10 Million copies. The band's third release, Weathered, also debuted at #1, selling more copies in its first week than any other rock release in 2001, and tying the record for the longest run at the top following a #1 debut.

"With My Own Prison, I knew we had the talent to get a record deal and I knew we had songs good enough to get played on the radio, but I never had any expectations of reaching this many people," says Creed's frontman Scott Stapp.

Nonetheless, the band's success has been truly phenomenal. Creed was the first band in history to have four #1 Rock Radio singles from a debut album. On the strength of their singles, including the crushing title track and the more pensive "What's This Life For," Creed topped countless year-end charts and was recognized as the Rock Artist of the Year at Billboard's 1998 Music Awards. Their debut album was also the #1-selling Hard Music album of 1998 on SoundScan's Hard Music chart.

With the release of their second album, Human Clay, Creed upped the ante yet again. "Higher," the first single from their 10-times platinum sophomore release, broke the Active and Mainstream Rock airplay records for the most consecutive weeks at #1, holding the coveted spot for eighteen weeks. Furthermore, Creed was recognized once again as the Rock Artist of the Year at Billboard's 1999 and 2000 Music Awards. Human Clay 's first three singles ("Higher," "What If" and "With Arms Wide Open") again achieved #1 status, setting a record with a total of seven consecutive #1 Rock Radio singles.

"We're the type of band that functions really well under pressure and the only pressure that we recognize is our own. We definitely wanted to top ourselves [after the My Own Prison album]," says Stapp. "We wanted to make a really great record. The band's goal has always been to make records that are solid from start to finish; records that take you through an entire range of emotions." Guitarist / co-writer Mark Tremonti added, "We always kept in mind that we had to write for ourselves because as long as we are proud of it, our fans will be as well. We try not to set any other goals above and beyond that." While Stapp grants that the band's increased resources had some impact on the structure of Human Clay, it's clear that Creed's evolution is far more than just a matter of dollars and cents.

Once again, Creed has returned with an album of songs that collectively offer the listener a passionate journey of emotive energy. Tremonti and Stapp's collaborations stand among the select few that seem to effortlessly draw the listener in and truly move the spirit through the simple art of expression. The lead single, "My Sacrifice," opens with a signature Mark Tremonti guitar intro and then envelops the listener with the mood and power no other band today commands.

For Weathered, Creed once again turned to longtime friend and producer John Kurzweg to ensure that they captured the anthemic guitars, dramatic vocals and bold lyrics that have made the band's brawny-yet-intimate sound a radio staple for several years. The band also decided to invite Kirk Kelsey, their longtime live sound engineer, to co-produce the new material. Together with Kurzweg and Kelsey, Creed recorded the new album in a home studio just outside of Orlando. Drummer Scott Phillips commented, "We've done our previous two albums in home studios and have felt that this is our best creative environment where we can feel comfortable and creative as a band." Guitarist Mark Tremonti performed all of the bass guitar tracks on Weathered and a few special guests made passionate contributions to the album. On "Don't Stop Dancing," the band was joined by the Tallahassee Boys' Choir and Amie Stapp. Regarding his sister's appearance on the album, Stapp noted, "I had been looking for a female vocalist for awhile and it dawned on me that I didn't need to look any farther than home." On "Who's Got My Back?," vocalist Bo Taylor, an archivist at The Museum of the Cherokee Indian, makes a special appearance on the invitation of Creed. Taylor mentioned, "I really like Creed's music because they are asking questions that all human beings should ask as they look outside of themselves. Music touches people and Scott contacted me to celebrate where he originally came from and to reconnect with his ancestry. It speaks volumes about his character that he reached back and made this statement and it means a lot to me personally that he did this."

"I think my lyrics are very direct and understandable," says Stapp. "People can relate to that, so that's something I didn't want to move away from. At the same time, we're a little bit older and more mature now and we've been through a lot in the past few years, so we are looking to put things across in a way that reflected that." Co-writer Mark Tremonti added, "We wanted to take our sound and expand on it. I think Weathered is the most diverse, dynamic record we have written to date."

Creed's reputation for dynamic and passionate live performances has led to consistently sold-out shows. Over the past four years the band has played to more than four million fans worldwide. "We were out on tour for a long time and wherever we went, there were people telling me how much certain songs meant to them and how they felt so close to them," says Stapp. "That means more to me than any other kind of attention. It's important to feel as if you're doing something worthwhile and in this band, with Mark and Scott, I feel like I am." On a similar note, drummer Scott Phillips added, "Our success has been dictated by the fans. They are the most important thing in the band's life. The three of us feel blessed to have such a great following of people. It's amazing to me when I sit behind the kit during a show and see the passion and emotion displayed by the audience."

In January 2002, Creed embarked on a world tour that will bring them to over one million fans throughout the year. The year began with a trek across North American arenas in January, after which they touched down in Australia and New Zealand in July. The band will then return to the U.S. for a Summer / Fall stadium tour. When asked before the tour about his feelings on getting back on the road and in front of the band's fans, guitarist Mark Tremonti replied, "Personally, I can't wait to get back on tour. It is something I truly enjoy and can't live without. It has been too long since we played a full blown show." Scott Phillips mentioned, "It's been over a year since we've had a chance to perform in front of a crowd. Our experiences in previous years have been amazing and we can't wait to continue that feeling."

In 2000, Creed's presence on television and their impact on end-of-year award shows were undeniable. The band released their VH1 Behind The Music special, taped and released VH1's Storytellers with The Doors and garnered numerous awards. In November, Creed earned two awards at the Radio Music Awards and the fans bestowed four awards on the band at the My VH1 Awards. They also received the award for Rock Artist of the Year, for the third year in a row, at the Billboard Awards in December. The writing team of Mark Tremonti / Scott Stapp kicked off 2001 by winning a Grammy Award for the band's composition, "With Arms Wide Open," a deeply personal song that was inspired when Stapp learned he was going to become a father.

Stapp is also continually besieged with requests to help with a variety of fund-raisers and charities and helps whenever and wherever he can. He has started his own charity, the "With Arms Wide Open Foundation" in an attempt to help underprivileged children and to be able to give something back to the communities that have supported Creed.

Other Links:
VH1.com biography
Wikipedia entry

Scott Stapp sang lead vocals for Creed, and wrote some lyrics.

Bio from wikipedia.org
Scott Alan Stapp (born Anthony Scott Flippen on August 8, 1973 in Orlando, Florida, USA) is a singer and songwriter, and a former member of the band Creed. He is known to have strong Christian beliefs, which is often reflected in his songs. He attended Lee College in Cleveland, Tennessee, but was expelled from it for marijuana usage.

He has announced a partnership with NASCAR that will see tracks from his solo album, The Great Divide, used in spots for the upcoming sport's Chase for the Championship. The alliance will culminate with Stapp performing the national anthem at the Ford 400 race in Homestead, Florida, on November 20.

His debut solo album THE GREAT DIVIDE comes out in the US on November 22, 2005.

Scott Stapp is a douche bag.

Other Links
Scott Stapp Official website
Wikipedia Entry
imdb biography (pretty funny)

Mark Tremonti played all guitars parts in the studio, and sang backup vocals both live and in the studio.

Name : Mark Thomas Tremonti
Nickname:  "Tru"
DOB : April 18, 1974
Birthplace : Detriot, Michigan
Height:  6'1.5"
Favorite Album : Metallica - Master of Puppets
Influences : Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Venom, Celtic Frost, Rollins-era

Mark Tremonti, born in Detroit, was brought up with his brothers Michael and Daniel in a Christian background although he never liked going to church. He went the Detroit Public where he had many friends and obtained grades that were just good enough to progress through his schooling life. However, he had to abandon his friends when he and his family moved to Grosse Point, Michigan, choosing the quiet life. This was not the only change he would encounter and soon they moved again to Wilmette, IL. Mark wasn't greatly bothered by the moves, as he made friends quite easily.

It was when Mark was 11 that his brothers Daniel and Michael Tremonti started exposing him to then-rock-gods like KISS and Metalica and led him down the rock and metal path. Mark was greatly inspired by this music and it was around Christmas time 1985 that he bought his first guitar, a T.A.R.A - which was a gibson les paul knock off - for $25 from a man who wanted him to play in his band. Mark, enthralled by the deal, immediately signed up for lessons but quit after 2 weeks as "They were teaching me Mary Had A Little Lamb when I wanted to learn Master of Puppets ". Instead Mark began to teach himself, buying a few tab books and trying to learn his favourite songs, practicing them until he got them right.

It was in Mark's teens that his mother was diognosed with Lupus. Mark was devastated. His mother's illness affected Mark as he began to go part gothic at his new school after moving again in 1990 to Orlando, Fl. He would roll under his car during breaks, and whilst pretending to be fixing something, he would smoke cigarette's. He got into bands like Megadeath and would be found wearing a Megadeth t-shirt under a White shirt at school. It was at this school, however, that Mark Tremonti and Scott Stapp first met. It was also here that Mark had his first rock band called Wit's End. They were your average high school rock star wannabe's, playing Motley Crue covers and other metal songs.

After High School Mark decided to major in financing. He attended Clemson University for a year before going back to Florida, where he reunited with Scott Stapp. At this point, Mark's guitar skills had reached a new level. It seemed as if destiny brought them together and after a few long discussions, they agreed to create a band together. After jamming a few times in Scott's dorm, they auditioned for a bassist and drummer, resulting in Brian Marshall (the ex-bassist for Creed) and Scott Phillips's selection. As the band sat down to think of a good band name, a funny article which Mark carried in his wallet, headlined Naked Toddler came to mind whcih led to the bands original name. But after a while, they realized they needed a change and Stapp and Marshall suggested Creed. For Stapp, it was rememberance of his roots (Stapp's ancestors were Creek Indians) and Marshall's old band was Maddox Creed. Mark and Scott P agreed and Creed was born. The first song they recorded was a song called "Grip My Soul". After they had written a few songs, they put together all the money they had and recorded an album on their own independant record label called "Blue Collar Records". The album, called "My Own Prison" took only $6,000 to make, and only 6,000 copies were made. Creed began to tour around America, with one thing in mind. If on that day 10 people would come, and if they liked it, they would tell 10 more. The next time they came to that city, there would be 20, then 50, then 100, and so on. Finally Creed got thier break when a Radio Jockey in "The Laser" Milwaukee heard about Creed and decided to check them out. He heard My Own Prison and the song was played, and became one of the main reasons why Creed are where they are today. Mark and the others realising that they could not hit the big time on a small label signed a record deal with Wind Up records. They re-recorded the album My Own Prison, with a few small changes to the lyrics and guitar, and released it in 1997. They album was a huge hit. Since they signed onto Wind up, they have had 8 Number 1 singles, 3 Multi Platinum albums (My Own Prison - 6 times platinum, Human clay - 10 times platinum or Diamond, Weathered - 6 times platinum) in the U.S. alone, From playing a cheap Gibson knock off, Mark now has his own Paul Reed Smith Mark Tremonti Singlecut guitar, and Mark Tremonti Morley power wah pedal (with a possibility of his own taylor acousitc). Yet he's the most down to earth person in the world, enjoying hobbies cuch as video games and table tennis (ping-pong). Infact, now that he can afford it, Mark was able to fulfill his childhood dream by owning 18 pinball machines.

With Creed's success Mark has achieved best guitarist of the year for 3 years and his success continues as he works on new projects, working with other bands and writing new music.

In the break from Creed that would eventually see the band split up, Mark worked on producing for bands such as Submersed and with Troy Stetina, and has guest appeared on albums by Michael Angelo Batio and Fozzy. Mark's main project though had been creating a new band.

After going different ways from Scott Stapp, Mark along with Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall (who had left Creed and was brought back for the new band) begun work on creating new music. Mark stated, “After all Creed achieved professionally, I felt that I needed to refocus on the goals that I had personally. One of those goals was to get back to my rock and roll roots. After Creed took a break, band-mate Scott Phillips and I started to jam together again and realized that we both shared the same vision and were surprisingly anxious to get back out there and start doing it again.”

With the introduction of ex Mayfield Four singer Myles Kennedy, both an amazing singer and great person that they could get along with, Alter Bridge was born. The name comes from a long-standing bridge near Tremonti’s childhood home in Detroit, which was often regarded as a boundary to the children in surrounding neighborhoods; beyond it was uncharted territory. The small bridge epitomized “choice” and “the unknown” for Tremonti. While there remains a sense of familiarity amongst he, Phillips and Marshall, there is a natural level of excitement that is evoked from what is new, and ultimately unknown, about the future– they are truly starting a new chapter in their lives. Tremonti notes, “It’s a new road ahead of us, but the essence of this band is organic and honest rock n’ roll. The music is driven by melody and instrumentation. It is all about fun, and if it weren’t, I doubt any of us would be committed to the new band to the level that we are.”

And so Mark is now living a new chapter in his life as he tours with Alter Bridge with their material from the debut album "One Day Remains" and exploring other unknown territories as he has recently become a father.  Austen Tremonti was born on May 24th, 2005.

This bio was adopted from that which may be found at mark-tremonti.com

Other links:
imdb biography
Wikipedia entry

Scott Phillips played drums and percussion, and any keyboards in the studio.

Thomas “Scott” Phillips, born February 22nd, 1973, in Georgia, has been playing music since he was a child.  He gew up in Madison, Florida, where learned piano when he was younger, and played saxophone in middle school and in the high school marching band.  During his senior year in high school, he started to play drums.  For a while he borrowed other peoples’ drum sets to “work his magic”, and his grandfather purchased him his first used drum kit.  He played in the jazz band at North Florida Junior College before enrolling at Florida State University, where he majored in business.

Scott (or “Flip”, a nickname coined by Mark Tremonti’s brother Daniel), comes from a very musical background.  His father was a trumpet-playing jazz enthusiast, his mother played piano and a little guitar, and his brother also plays the drums.  His father co-signed a loan for Scott to purchase his first real set of drums – a Premier Genista Kit on a Gibraltar rack with Zildjain cymbals.

Scott played for many bands before “Creed” including his first band, “Crosscut”.  He has worked many jobs including working at a knife and razor store in a Tallahassee mall, three years at Pizza Hut, and two months of selling vacuum cleaners!  Eventually he replaced the drummer for a band called “Naked Toddler”, which was soon renamed Creed.  Creed went on to sell a ton of records and tour a lot.  In August of 2001, Flip married his long-time girlfriend April, and on July 2nd, 2003, they had a child named Cadence.  In 2004, Creed officially broke up and Scott joined Mark Tremonti and former Creed bassist Brian Marshall in forming a new band “Alter Bridge”.

Among Scott’s influences are Will Calhoun (from “Living Color”), Matt Cameron (from “Soundgarden), and Lars Ulrich (from Metallica).  His favorite bands include Living Color, Tool, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, and Rush.  His favorite albums are Living Color’s “Time’s Up” and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”.

Most of this information was taken from the bio page at FlipOnline.net

Other Links:
Wikipedia entry

Brian Marshall played bass guitar for Creed until he left the band in 2000.

Brian Marshall was born on April 24th, 1973, and grew up in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  Brian was a founding member of Creed, and concieved the name for the band (which had previously been known as "Naked Toddler").  He is well known for his driving bass-line in Creed's hit song "My Own Prison".  In 2000, after making a somewhat derogatory comment about Pearl Jam (or rather their lead singer Eddie Vedder) on a Seattle Radio station, Marshall left the band citing "personal and professional reasons".  He and Stapp really just didn't get along to well, which isn't so hard to understand.

After departing from Creed, Marshall built a recording studio in his home and started working with a band called "Head Heavy".  In 2004 when Creed broke up, he recieved a call from Mark Tremonti asking him to join them as the bassist for Alter Bridge.  Brian accepted, and everyone is pretty happy to have him back.  He's an awesome bass guitar payer... listen to "Burn it Down" and you'll hear it.

Other Links:
Wikipedia entry
HeadHeavy band site (no longer up)