SCOTT STAPP Explains Why He Initially 'Had Hesitation' About Committing To CREED Reunion Tour

In a new interview with Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA, Scott Stapp spoke about the fact that 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). A full-fledged tour, also dubbed "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.

Asked if he knew right from the get-go when the "Summer Of '99" cruise was announced last July that CREED would also embark on a tour, Scott said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I have to say that I didn't know that anything would happen beyond the cruises. I was kind of looking at it as, 'Let's feel it out. Let's see how the cruises go. And then let's make some decisions after that.' But I think that once we got together and did a [photo shoot], the managers were kind of saying, 'All right. Here's this opportunity. Let's do this. Let's do that,' it definitely made me feel comfortable enough to pull the trigger, if you will, on moving forward with that."

According to Stapp, he initially "had hesitation" about committing to a CREED tour because "I had a solo record that was probably the most arduous labor of love that felt like everything in the world that could possibly come against me getting this record done, in every area of my life, so I was, like, 'Man, I wanna promote this record,'" he explained. "And so, after having some long conversations with management and then getting together with the guys and feeling their vibe with the cruises, I realized that they all can live together. [CREED guitarist Mark Tremonti] is doing [select shows and recordings with] the [Frank] Sinatra thing, and they've got other things, I'm sure, that they're gonna be releasing. And so it just helps everything else. But, again, I'm really looking forward to seeing how this initial positivity translates into the dynamic of the band, because I tell you what — if we can get our hearts and our spirits and our minds back to where we were as a unit in '94, '95, '96, I tell you, we may just go out there, when the time is right, and write the best CREED album we've ever done. That's where my heart is. And so we'll see what happens."

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.

During a recent appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Stapp was asked if he was surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response to the announcement of CREED's reunion. He responded: "Well, it's not surprising in the context of I knew that there was a new generation of CREED fans being born, and then also the fans from the past were re-engaging with CREED because of everything that was going viral. It started in late 2020, then in 2021, 2022, 2023, between TikTok and Instagram and YouTube and all the social media platforms, we just started having this resurgence. And it was shocking at first 'cause I was, like, it came out of nowhere, but to see the reception and to see that there was so much love out there for the band… I expected a positive reaction and a positive reception, but I didn't know it was gonna be like this. I had no idea."

Referencing the fact that CREED's first shows together in 12 years will take place as headliners of the "Summer Of '99" cruise, Stapp said: "I've never done the cruise thing before, so I didn't really know what to expect there, and when I found out how fast it sold out, and then when I found out how the ticket sales are for the amphitheater tour, I was surprised that it was going that fast and there was that much demand. So yeah, a positive reception I expected, but I didn't know it was gonna be that big."

Asked if he hopes to make new music with CREED at some point, Scott said: "Well, yeah, Mark and I were together a couple days ago doing some secret, secret thing I can't share, but we were hanging out for a couple days. And as we were hanging out, we just began talking about how we wrote [1999's] 'Human Clay' [album]. And we wrote 'Human Clay' while on the road touring [CREED's debut album, 1997's] 'My Own Prison'. And we wrote it during soundchecks — 80, 90 percent of that record was written on stage during soundcheck. And you know what we'd do? We'd write a song and we'd get it tight and play it within three or four days of writing it because we didn't have enough material with just that one record to be a headliner, but we were headlining shows. So we didn't wanna fill our set with covers, so we were writing on the fly and just playing new songs as we as we wrote them. And so we were talking, like, 'You know what? That was a really good experience.' Those were good times and both of us connected. And I could see in his eye, and I was feeling it too, that I think there's gonna be some writing happening, and it's gonna be organic. And I think it's gonna be beautiful, man. If we get back to that place and that chemistry, which I think we're gonna fall right back into once we start playing these songs together and we reconnect, through our relationships, through the songs that we created together, I think it's only natural for us that during soundchecks, sometimes in the dressing room, wherever and whenever we're together, that songs are gonna be born. I mean, it happened on the 'Full Circle' tour. We wrote a bunch of songs during soundcheck during that tour, and so we're sitting on those. But I think we're all in a fresh space and I definitely think the creative juices are gonna flow. And so I definitely think there's hope for some new music."

Pressed about whether he wants CREED to be an ongoing thing or if it's just a reunion to reconnect after 10 years, Scott said: "Well, it's evolved. I'll be honest with you — initially I was taking it, like, 'All right, let's do the cruises and then let's kind of see what happens from there.' But the reception was so incredible, and, like I explained before, everything that was going on viral, the tour just got presented to us and we couldn't say no, especially with the positive interaction that was happening with the band behind the scenes."

He continued: "I really am hoping that all this positive energy and positive mindset and just collective mindset that this is something that we finally need to really cherish and nurture and really give our fans what they want, and that it actually benefits everything else we're doing as well. There's definitely been some dialogue and some conversations about this being something that continues. But again, there's still a little bit of that 'let's see how it goes' kind of deal. So I think part of us are in the moment, the excitement of this, 'Let's make this something we do all the time,' and then the other half of us is, 'All right. Well, let's see how it goes.' So with both of those head spaces kind of living together, I think that's a positive recipe. So if everyone just shows up with that right attitude, I think — not to sound cliché, but it is cliché — I think the best is yet to come for CREED."

In a recent interview with Belgian Jasper, 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: "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."

In December, 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 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 enormous success is largely due to the prolific writing team of 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.