MARK TREMONTI: CREED Has Been Planning Reunion Since Before Pandemic

In a new interview with Belgian Jasper, Mark Tremonti was asked how difficult it was for him to dodge questions about a possible CREED reunion in the months leading up to the official announcement last July. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. You just have to definitely be almost like a politician when you're talking about it. You've gotta say, 'Oh, you never know. When the timing is right.' You have your lines that you'll have in case that question comes up. And to be honest, we've been planning stuff and talking since before COVID about when the timing would be right. And when COVID hit, it kind of derailed things."

Tremonti went on to say that right now seems like "the perfect time for CREED" to come back. "A bunch of athletes have been using [a CREED] song as kind of their go-to-battle kind of music," he noted. Furthermore, he said, "When the tour went on sale, we get to see all the ages of people buying the tickets and if it's male, female or whatnot. And we were blown away to see that the biggest fanbase buying the tickets are between 25 and 35 years old. So a lot of these people were too young to be around when CREED was touring back in the day. So it's good to see a whole new generation of CREED fans out there."

Earlier this month, Tremonti spoke about CREED's upcoming 40-city North American tour, which will mark the band's first time hitting the road together in over a decade. Asked by Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA if CREED's previously announced "Summer Of '99" cruise was a way for the band to gauge fan interest before committing to a full run of shows, Mark said: "We knew we were gonna do a tour; we just didn't know how big of a tour it was gonna be. We kind of wanted to use that to gauge the amount of — how receptive people were gonna be. And when we put that cruise on sale, the Sixthman group, who put the cruise together, I think they said they've been in business for 21 years and this was the quickest-selling cruise that they'd ever [had]. And it's funny, in my household, my wife and kids watch — and I'll get there and watch with them too — the Hallmark channel movies, the Christmas movies. They said that the only other cruise that had sold as fast at a certain point was the Hallmark cruise."

Regarding the strong fan response to CREED's 2024 tour, Mark said: "We appreciate it, because ever since CREED broke up for the first time, we took that break, you realize how well we had it, as far as the radio play and the ticket sales and all that stuff. And then when we started [our post-CREED band] ALTER BRIDGE, we realized how much of work it took to get back up to that level, at least over in Europe. Especially with [my solo project] TREMONTI — I wish I could sell a tenth of the tickets CREED sells with TREMONTI band. And that's why we appreciate how well CREED has done, 'cause we get to relive those years that we first got excited about being professional musicians. And, like I said, the pre-sale went on and it did really well, but when the general on-sale went out, we were blown away. So, we hope for the best."

CREED's 2024 "Summer Of '99" tour, produced by Live Nation, will kick off on July 17, 2024, and will run through September 28, 2024. 3 DOORS DOWN will be direct support on the majority of the tour, with DAUGHTRY, SWITCHFOOT, TONIC and BIG WRECK appearing on select dates, and FINGER ELEVEN opening all shows.

On August 31, 2024, CREED will headline the inaugural "Summer Of '99 And Beyond Festival" at Glen Helen Amphitheatre in San Bernardino, California, with support from 3 DOORS DOWN, DAUGHTRY, FINGER ELEVEN, FUEL, VERTICAL HORIZON and THE VERVE PIPE.

CREED's first shows together in 12 years will take place as headliners of the aforementioned "Summer Of '99" cruise, setting sail from April 18-22, 2024. The band added a second cruise the following weekend.

CREED's enormous success is largely due to the prolific writing team of singer Scott Stapp and Tremonti, who founded the band together in 1993. Their winning combination of driving guitar riffs, rousing hooks and introspective lyrics earned them legions of loyal fans around the world. Following the release of their first two albums, the four-piece — which also included bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips — became the first band ever to have seven consecutive No. 1 singles on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. CREED's third album, "Weathered" (2001),also debuted at No. 1, and produced several popular singles, including Top Ten hits "My Sacrifice" and "One Last Breath". Though CREED announced its breakup in 2004, the band briefly reunited in 2009 to release "Full Circle". Heavier than their previous albums, "Full Circle" debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, proving the incredible staying power of the band.

CREED disbanded in 2004 but reunited five years later for the aforementioned "Full Circle" LP and an extensive tour. Stapp has since toured and recorded as a solo artist, although he suffered a drug-related mental breakdown in 2014 and spent several years recovering from that.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann