Creed Calls It Quits
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14248,00.html
by David Jenison
Jun 4, 2004, 5:45 PM PT
Apparently Creed was doing a little fortune-telling when it released the track "One Last Breath."
The 2002 single is, fittingly, the band's swan song.
After eight years and three hugely successful albums, Florida's rock superstars Creed have thrown in the towel.
The band, whose My Own Prison, Human Clay and Weathered sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, released a statement Friday announcing the break-up.
"Creed was one of the most amazing journeys through music and friendship I am blessed to say I was a part of," says singer Scott Stapp. "I made memories I can never replace! I just want to thank the fans who supported us and became a part of the Creed experience. We could not have accomplished anything without you [fans]!"
Though the band didn't give specifics for the split, it appears to have been in the works for some time, as all parties involved have new projects in the works.
First up, Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti and drummer Scott Phillips are reuniting with original bassist Brian Marshall as Alter Bridge, named after a bridge in Tremonti's childhood hometown of Detroit. To handle vocals, the new group recruited former Mayfield Four singer Myles Kennedy, whose original band opened for Creed back in 1998.
Marshall, who departed Creed before Weathered was released in 2001, started work on the new band's songs from his home studio, and the music caught the attention of Tremonti during time off last year. Alter Bridge's debut album, One Day Remains, is due out on Wind-up Records Aug. 10, followed by a world tour.
"It's kind of sad to end a chapter of your life, but it's also exciting to be starting a new one," says Tremonti in the same statement. "We'll always be proud of the music we made with Creed, but Alter Bridge gives me the opportunity to start over with a different perspective and a more evolved direction. This band begins and ends with the love of the music."
Says Phillips, "Creed was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I'm really excited to be starting over as well. The most significant things that we are taking from the Creed experience are the lessons that we learned. We truly believe that the decisions we've made for our future are the right ones. After writing and rehearsing the new material, we are confident that we've made the right choices."
Stapp--who has dealt with some personal issues in recent years, including a nasty divorce, injuries suffered in a car crash and a lawsuit brought by fans who claimed he was so intoxicated at a concert that he was unable to sing--has been working on his own solo career.
He recorded four songs inspired by Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (featuring Lenny Kravitz on bass) that will appear on the all-star compilation album The Passion of the Christ: Songs of Inspiration, due out Aug. 31 also on Wind-up, with the first single titled "Relearn Love."
Additionally, he is working with producer 7 Aurelius (Ashanti, 50 Cent) and has tapped Canadian rockers the Tea Party to help with his solo debut, slated for release at the end of the year.
Formed by high-school pals Stapp and Tremonti in Tallahassee in the early 1990s, the band scored four hits off its debut disc, My Own Prison: "Torn," "What's This Life For," "One" and the title cut. They followed up with the chart-topping Human Clay, featuring "Higher," "What If" and "With Arms Wide Open," which earned Stapp and Tremonti a Grammy for Best Rock Song. The band also added Billboard and American Music Awards to the trophy case.
Creed's final album, Weathered, topped the charts upon its release in 2001 and held the position for eight straight weeks, tying an all-time record shared by Eminem and 'N Sync.
In the break-up announcement, the band also announced the inevitable Creed Greatest Hits album is in the pipeline, reportedly for a fall release.