MARK TREMONTI Says He Holds Music 'Aside' For Possible New CREED Album

In a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, Mark Tremonti was asked how the CREED reunion came about. The CREED and ALTER BRIDGE guitarist, who also fronts his own band TREMONTI, said: "Me and Scott [Stapp, CREED singer] spoke before COVID happened. We had done a few ShipRockeds [cruises] with ALTER BRIDGE and TREMONTI, and I always enjoyed them and I thought it would be a great idea to do our own cruise at some point. And when I was speaking to my manager, I was, like, 'I think a CREED cruise would be something that would really work.' And at the time our agent had already been doing the PARAMORE — I think it's called 'Parahoy!' cruise — and they always had a lot of fun with it. So I said it would be kind of a great reintroduction for CREED to do that, 'cause it's just kind of a soft landing back into the world. And it just made sense. And when it came out and it did so well, it made us really kind of re-evaluate what we're gonna do for the rest of the year. And that's when we announced the tour. The funny thing is everything just kind of happened naturally all at once with all the hype — the Rangers playing the music and the Vikings playing the music. And just the other night, my kids showed me a clip of the Green Bay Packers playing playing 'Higher' at the stadium. It's just great coincidence that CREED's kind of coming back into the fold in popular culture, which has been great for us since we just timed the tour at the same time."

Asked if he can see CREED making new music in the not-too-distant future, Mark said: "I'm not sure. If we would have known this was gonna do so well, we would have planned ahead of time and done new music beforehand. But from an outsider looking in, sometimes people are, like, 'Yeah, just put out new music.' But we'd have to record it nine months ago to have it be ready now, kind of for the tour. If we started writing music now, it would take us months and months and months to write it and then months to record it and then six months of setting it up and by then it's time for us to start ALTER BRIDGE. So it's kind of a difficult thing. Maybe if there was a song or two or an EP, it'd be easier. But I also go in the studio in February with TREMONTI, and Scott Stapp is just releasing a solo record. So it's kind of a tough thing."

Tremonti went on to say that he is not opposed to the idea of making a new CREED record.

"When I'm writing songs and I go over ideas, I'm, like, 'Wow, that would be a great CREED song, and I kind of hold it aside for the day that that happens," he explained. "A lot of times when I'll write a song that I'll put on a TREMONTI record, I'll be, like, 'That would have been a great CREED song,' and it turns into a song that people like, but they just kind of get forgotten. Some of the ballads on the TREMONTI records, the diehard TREMONTI fans love 'em, but I think they would have been bigger CREED songs, some of them."

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 "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