Creed

selected  Creed TShirTS, PosTerS & Prints 

Creed was a Grammy Award-winning American rock band that became one of the best selling rock bands of the late 1990s and early 2000s, selling over 25 million records in the U.S. during this time.

Creed originally came together in Tallahassee, Florida in 1995 as Naked Toddler when Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti, former high school 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, Maddox Creed.

Creed 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 Floyds Music Store on the Tennessee Street Strip in Tallahassee. Hanson liked Creed so much that he convinced producer John Kurzweg to produce Creed .

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 Creed , 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 Creed 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. Creed's hit song "My Own Prison" was also featured as a live performance on the charity album, Live in the X Lounge.

Creed's 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 summer.

Meanwhile, Brian Marshall particularly offended many fans when he criticized Pearl Jam on a Seattle radio station (KNDD). He was soon kicked out of Creed , 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 a festival where they were both performing. In response to this, Scott Stapp invited Fred Durst to an open boxing match in which Durst declined.



Despite Creed'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. Creed  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 and My Sacrifice contain allusion to Christian theology.

Creed's frontman has stated:

“ We are not a 'Christian band'. We have no agenda to lead others to believe in our specific beliefs. ” 
— Scott Stapp, vocalist 

After Creed  broke up Scott Stapp told Christianity Today that he is a Christian and was one since the time of Creed but was struggling with problems such as alcoholism at the time. He also stated that he is not sure whether God called him to spread the gospel but said that God may choose to one day. 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.

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.

from Wikipedia licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.