Creed frontman Scott Stapp on singing his 'life story,' moving to Nashville and finding a dream team

Scott Stapp, frontman for the '90s rock band Creed, says he is paying his dues in reverse.

Creed shot to stardom with the 1997 release of "My Own Prison" and within a year, was playing sold-out arenas. They wrote hit after hit, sold 55 million albums and won countless awards, including a Grammy. The success, in Stapp's words, "was quick, and I was unequipped." The band broke up in 2004, but Stapp kept going.

For the last 20 years, he has been writing and recording solo records and playing clubs across the country. The last 8 years have been from his home base of Nashville.

"Creed happened so fast," Stapp told The Tennessean during a break from rehearsals. "I remember coming out of the first arena and going back to my apartment in Tallahassee sleeping on a mattress with no dresser. But since the band broke up, I went back to the clubs and started over. It's been a grind. I've been sweating it out, man."

Stapp and his family moved to the Nashville area in 2016 because he had three little ones (along with an older child) and needed a change. He'd already been coming here to write and realized it would be a great place to raise a family. That he knew. What surprised him, however, was the plethora of all genres of music emanating from Music City.

"It did initially surprise me to know that, you know, there's rock, pop, hip hop, rap, I mean, every genre is coming out of Nashville," he said. "And I didn't know how many rockers lived here. It was a good surprise. It's fitting. I mean, this is the hub of music and there's no better place to be. It solidified that I was right where God wanted me."

Looking backward while moving forward

Stapp understands his track record. It's one he is not proud of. He said being one of the biggest artists in the world for a time brought fame and money — and the trappings of success, which he admits he got caught up in.

"It's common knowledge that because I'm so allergic to alcohol, every time I drink it I break out in handcuffs and end up on the six o'clock news," Stapp deadpanned.

But he owns his past — and more importantly, writes and sings about it in hopes that his transparency and honesty might help others. From the feedback he's received throughout the years, it's working.

"I'm not singing somebody else's song. I'm singing my life story. Some of the biggest names in this town have come up to me and said 'man, your music has helped me out so much.' That has inspired me so much, and that's why I'm doing what I'm doing today."

From the day 26 years ago where he learned he was going to be a dad and on the spot wrote Creed's smash hit "With Arms Wide Open," with his guitarist/friend/co-writer Mark Tremonti to his latest solo single (and highest-charting solo single to date) "Higher Power," Stapp continues to wear his scars and his badges on his sleeve.

He sings in "Higher Power:" Now I'm alive/I walked through fire. I survived/I'm burning brighter. Standing on top of the world/I ain't coming down. I'm alive/I've become the fire. Rising high/I'm burning brighter. The day I climbed out through my darkest hour/I found my higher power.

"Higher Power" is also the title of his fourth solo record that released March 15. His first post-Creed solo effort, "The Great Divide" in 2005 went platinum. 2013's "Proof of Life" produced his first solo No. 1. "The Space Between the Shadows" in 2019 also spawned a few top-20 hits.

But it would be the lows between those highs that drove him to, in his words, "surrender" to his lingering demons.

"I realized I can't live this way and I need help, so I dove into the community of other people like me and started listening and taking direction," he said. "Except for a handful of incidences over the last nine-and-a-half years, I've been sober and good things have been happening. I've had a chance to dive into being everything you'd want to be as a dad, coaching my sons' baseball, basketball and football teams and being in the carpool line and all the wonderful things that living in Franklin, Tennessee, affords you."

Live Music: Pilgrimage Festival 2024: Dave Matthews, Noah Kahan, Hozier and NEEDTOBREATHE lead 10th anniversary lineup

New: Kings of Leon sign with Capitol Records, announce new album, tour to kick off 2024

"My goal was just to spill my guts and wear my heart on my sleeve, because I wanted to know I wasn't alone in the world. And I realize now that I'm not. Everyone's going through something at some level and I'm grateful that through music I've been able to be part of so many people's journeys."

The new album is no exception. He says it is a narrative of everything he's been through the last few years and he credits his kids (25, 17, 13 and 6) and his Nashville community of co-writers and supporters with the courage to keep writing.

"This community here in Nashville has been so incredible in terms of how they support people who have those struggles. I was unaware until I got into the community how big it is and how supportive and protective they are of people who are sincere and they know they are honest about trying to change their life. When they know your heart, they've got your back."

Nashville songwriting dream team

Stapp writes with a core team of hit writers in Nashville including Marti Frederiksen (who has worked with Aerosmith, Carrie Underwood, Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue and Faith Hill), Scott Stevens (Halestorm, Shinedown), Zac Maloy (Carrie Underwood, Skillet), Blair Daily (Uncle Kracker, Kelly Clarkson) and a newer addition to the group, Kylie Sackley (Sam Hunt, Keith Urban, Walker Hayes).

"We start every session with more of a hang than anything else," Stapp said. "I'm just spilling my guts, sharing things, you know, I may have an idea I brought in, but if I don't, then the ideas and what we write will be born out of us just connecting as friends and catching up on life."

Frederiksen referred to Stapp as a truly passionate writer.

"Scott is so passionate and so connected to every song that we have written together," he said. "He really writes straight from his heart."

Stapp, a native of Orlando, Fla., says he feels like Nashville is where he is meant to be both professionally and personally during this season of his life. He can be a basketball coach one day and a rock star the next without the two having to be mutually exclusive.

"At times in my life, God was still right there with me and that's the only reason that I'm here today and in Nashville, surrounded by a community of people who understand exactly what I just said."

The comeback nobody saw coming

So as Stapp and his band tour in support of "Higher Power," another era from his past is not only coming back to life, but breathing fire. Creed announced in 2023 it would reunite and the response has been "overwhelming."

Creed kicks off a summer tour in April that is littered with sold-out shows across the country. The band will make two Nashville stops: a sold-out Ascend Amphitheater show on Aug. 13, and Nov. 8 at Bridgestone Arena.

"I've been told the Creed resurgence us as big or bigger than our peak in 2001, which blows my mind."

A recent Pollstar.com story said, "the momentum behind the return of Creed may be something this industry has never seen."

Regardless of what happens in his musical future, Stapp says his goal remains the same.

"I want to hopefully connect with and help other people out no matter what they are going through. Whether it's going through alcoholism, addiction, divorce, loss of a loved one or they're losing hope, if I can somehow be a soundtrack to offer that connection, I feel like that's part of my calling and why I do what I do."

Nashville Rocks is a new series by music writer Melonee Hurt that explores all of the people making rock music out of Nashville. We’ll share can’t-miss stories and go behind the scenes with the artists, writers, producers and players keeping rock alive from Nashville. Tune down, turn it up and dig in.

Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com, on X @HurtMelonee or Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Scott Stapp on solo music, Creed reunion and living in Nashville