CREED's SCOTT STAPP Announces New Solo Album 'Higher Power'

CREED singer Scott Stapp will release his fourth solo album, "Higher Power", on March 15, 2024 via Napalm Records. The LP will arrive just a month before the iconic frontman returns to the stage with CREED for the first time in ten years.

Stapp's upcoming ten-track triumph turns the rockers experiences on the razors edge into an acknowledgement of grace. The album is available for pre-order now as title track "Higher Power" ships to radio and emotive new single "What I Deserve" debuts today on all DSPs.

When hard-hitting single "Higher Power" debuted in August, Loudwire stated that Stapp is "primed for a big decade, sounding just as powerful as he did at half his age with a sense of newfound heaviness resting beneath his iconic voice." Now, mid-tempo anthem "What I Deserve" addresses the inherent duality within relationships and smolders with the blistering yet delicate guitar work of multi-award-winning guitar great Yiannis Papadopoulos.

Stapp says: "We all want back what we give. 'What I Deserve' is about two people understanding who they are individually and coming to a place where they can express exactly what they each want, need, and deserve. The duality in the song is that both sides are expressing the same thing and coming to an understanding of the faults of the other. This song pleads both guilty and innocent with Yiannis guitar solo being the voice that articulates a chaotic search for deliverance and the epic release of passionate closure."

"Higher Power" follows 2019's "The Space Between The Shadows", which debuted at No. 3 on the U.S. Current Rock Albums chart, the U.S. Current Hard Music Albums chart, and the U.K. Rock and Metal Chart, among countless other top chart positions.

On an album that traverses themes of loss, frustration, betrayal and near defeat, "Higher Power" features standout performances by hard rock queen Dorothy on a deeply raw duet and, throughout the album, Papadopoulos guitar leads and solos are such invaluable contributions that he is credited as a featured artist on three tracks. There is also a co-writing appearance by multi-Grammy Award-winning songwriter and musician Steve McEwan on "Higher Power", which was produced by Marti Frederiksen and Scott Stevens, with co-production by Stapp.

Stapp explains: "'Higher Power' was born out of never-ending consequences with triggered, yet naive defiance. It's the realities and realizations of being human in this experiment we call life — holding on to hope in the dark waiting for the light."

"Higher Power" track listing:

01. Higher Power
02. Deadman's Trigger
03. When Love Is Not Enough
04. What I Deserve (feat. Yiannis Papadopoulos)
05. If These Walls Could Talk (feat. Dorothy)
06. Black Butterfly
07. Quicksand (feat. Yiannis Papadopoulos)
08. Youre Not Alone
09. Dancing In The Rain (feat. Yiannis Papadopoulos)
10. Weight Of The World

One of the most iconic voices in rock, Stapp first emerged as the high-energy, post-grunge frontman of CREED. With anthems like "Higher", "My Own Prison", "My Sacrifice" and "With Arms Wide Open", the band sold over 50 million albums, including a diamond certification. Throughout the early 2000s, CREED broke airplay records, sold out arenas, earned countless Billboard Music Awards and American Music Awards, and a Grammy for "Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group". As a solo artist, Stapp has released the platinum-certified "The Great Divide" (2005),"Proof Of Life" (2013) which featured his first solo No. 1, "Slow Suicide", and 2019's "The Space Between The Shadows". In April 2024, Stapp will reunite with his CREED bandmates for the first time in a decade, as he returns in fighting form and stands as an inspiration to others who are struggling.

Stapp went through a highly publicized, drug-inflamed meltdown in 2014, after which he entered into an intensive rehab program. Stapp also lost custody of his three children during this period, while also missing a court hearing and allegedly threatening to kill then-president Obama.

After completing rehab, Scott spent the following year in intensive therapy. Although he was initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it was later determined that it was severe depression that led to addiction. Now nine years sober, Stapp spoke to Men's Health about health and fitness in 2019 when his comeback album was released, saying, "I hate to use the word, but I guess it has become my new addiction."

Photo credit: Sebastian Smith