[titan9]

I think it was a combination of the talent, the times, and luck. Tremonti wrote some awesome riffs in Creed, Phillips and Marshall added their own touches, and Stapp wrote some great lyrics, not to mention how good his voice was(during the MOP/HC days). And the music, particularly from HC on, really appealed to the masses. "Higher" made the band well known among the majority of people, and songs like WAWO, MS and OLB only solidified Creed as one of the biggest bands for their time. And when Creed came around in the late 90s and took everyone by storm, rock radio was pretty dismal. It was after the grunge period, but before all of the "rock" bands that came along during the late 90s/early 00s. Creed basically rejuvenated mainstream rock. And, of course, there's that whole luck factor. Everything had to fall into place for Creed to become big. It was like catching lightning in a bottle.

Regardless of the reasons for their success, Creed was a special band for their time.