Anthony Scott Flippen (born August 8, 1973), also known as
Scott Stapp, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician, known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of
hard rock bands
Creed and
Art of Anarchy. He also has two solo albums:
The Great Divide (2005) and
Proof of Life (2013).
Stapp has received several accolades, including a
Grammy Award for Creed's song "
With Arms Wide Open" and numerous
RIAA certifications. In 2006,
Hit Parader ranked Stapp as the 68th greatest
heavy metal vocalist of all time.
Creed: 1993–2004; 2009–2012
Stapp is a founding member and lead vocalist of the American hard rock band
Creed. After developing a friendship with an acquaintance, his future band mate
Mark Tremonti at
Lake Highland Preparatory School
in Orlando, Stapp reunited with Tremonti while both attended Florida
State University, and they quickly developed a friendship based on their
mutual passion for music. Stapp formed Creed with Tremonti in 1993 with
fellow members
Brian Marshall and
Scott Phillips
joining as bassist and drummer, respectively. Rhythm guitarist Brian
Brasher was also briefly a member from 1993 until 1995. While often
criticized and parodied, Creed is recognized by many as one of the major
acts of the
post-grunge movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The band released its debut album
My Own Prison in 1997 to mainstream success, selling over six million copies.
[5] Four singles were released from the album: "
My Own Prison", "
Torn", "
What's This Life For", and "
One". Each of these songs reached No. 1 on
Billboard'a Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, becoming the first band to do so with a debut album.
[5] The album was then followed in 1999 by
Human Clay, which was an immediate success and certified
diamond and eleven times platinum by the
RIAA.
[5]
Existing tension between Stapp and Marshall began to increase during
this time, leading Marshall to ultimately leave the band to pursue other
interests. He was temporarily replaced by touring bassist
Brett Hestla,
[6] with Tremonti handling the bass parts in the studio. After a tour, the band released another multi-platinum selling album,
Weathered, in 2001.
[7]
The tour to support this record was overwhelmingly successful but ended
with a considerably controversial concert in Chicago that ultimately
led to the band's breakup.
[8] The band announced that they had disbanded in 2004, citing tension between Stapp and the other members.
[9] Creed released its
Greatest Hits in November 2004.
After months of speculation, despite early claims from Tremonti that Creed would never return,
[10] it was announced that Creed had reunited with plans for a tour and a new album.
[11] The record,
Full Circle,
was released in October 2009. Creed supported the album by touring
throughout North and South America, Canada, Europe, and Australia during
the summers of 2009 and 2010.
[12] A fifth Creed album was expected in late 2011 or early 2012 according to Tremonti,
[13] but never did materialize.
In March 2012, Stapp reconvened with his Creed band mates to rehearse
for their "2 Nights" tour, during which the band performed its first
two albums,
My Own Prison and
Human Clay, back to back in their entirety.
[14] It was announced that Stapp and Mark Tremonti would enter the studio to start recording new songs in June,
[15] but no progress was made.
In October 2013, Stapp noted in an interview that extensive work was
done on the new album throughout 2011 and 2012. However, the project was
suddenly abandoned, and Stapp stated he was unaware as to why. Stapp
also hinted that the relationship between himself and Tremonti had once
again broken down, leaving the future of the band uncertain.
[16]
In December 2013, Stapp elaborated on this, saying Tremonti is
dictating to him what he wants the band's creative direction to be, and
that Stapp does not want to work with him "under those circumstances".
[17]
In January 2014, Stapp once again confirmed in an interview the
personal and creative differences between him and Tremonti, stating that
future material by the band looks unlikely to happen at the moment, and
that he is concentrating on his solo career.
[18]
Despite these differences, Stapp has maintained that the band is still
together, if inactive, saying that "There's no real time table, we're
still a band."
[19][20]
He's also said that he's always open to continuing to work on a new
album when the time is right and if everyone can agree to continue.
[18]
However, in October 2014, Mark Tremonti said flatly that the band has
"no plans at the moment" to reform for another album or tour.
