Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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Why do you all hate it so much?
); and they even showed up in a 2024Super Bowl commercial.
Stapp is the first to admit Creeds rise was an unusually fast one.
The tidal wave started coming in and more opportunities started getting offered to the band, he says.
But God had another plan.
With Arms Wide Open would be one of those.
Now every time I sing it, I connect with it like its the first time.
Same with One Last Breath.
When those lyrics were written, I thought I had reached a low.
I hadnt even reachedcloseto a low; that was pediatric-level low.
And holding on to that hope, no matter what, has been the story of my life.
Its the only thing thats ever worked.
This was a song written about heaven.
Mark reminded me that I wrote the chorus as a freestyle during a show.
I kind of had a download during the set in front of thousands of people.
In my youth, Im crying out to heaven to take me higher.
Im seeing things pretty clearly at this point in my career.
Hardest album to make
Without a shadow of a doubt, the new solo album.
The studio is my safe haven.
But everything around me was getting in the way of recording.
I really felt like it was a fight.
There were times I was in the studio on crutches.
We only had ten songs onMy Own Prison, and we instantly started out as a headliner.
Having only ten songs to play wasnt going to cut it.
That wasnt even an hour.
So we had to create on the fly.
And then we got off that tour, and the experience in creating that record was incredible.
We were allowed to be artists.
We rented a big house.
We had our producer, John Kurzweg.
And we just jammed.
It was a beautiful experience.
We had no financial worries.
All we had to worry and think about was just being artists.
The moment he knew Creed had made it
There are so many.
Also,Human Claywent diamond around the same monthJoshua Treewent diamond.
And thats still sinking in.
Thats still hard to process.
Most difficult song to sing
I was fortunate to have an incredible producer in John Kruzweg.
But as a whole, the Creed songs arent taxing on my voice.
Theyre right in my pocket.
Same with Proof of Life.
Anything that I heard was either through my manager or someone brought it up to me.
I think at one point, I told them, I dont want to know.
Let me stay in this little bubble so I can keep doing what Im doing.
Because I realized when I did pay attention, it hurt.
I was actually affected mentally and emotionally by it.
And it wasnt healthy.
So I had to cut myself off from it.
The fans and the public spoke by buying over 50 million records in six years.
And so the narrative was kind of a manufactured one.
I think it was because we didnt fit into the clique.
We were kind of outsiders.
And so we were easy targets.
I was full of spit and vinegar.
Not knowing how to handle it all.
That wasnt part of the rock-and-roll dream.
Everything else was the sales, how we were embraced by the fans.
I didnt know how to handle that at the time.
In terms of any haters that are out there, I look at it like they are the fringes.
Theres so much love 85 to 90 percent love.
Arms Wide Open One Last Breath My Sacrifice they all reached that same level as Higher.
I cant think off the top of my head any songs that we missed on.
In particular, a song called One.
That song we always felt a little bit like …Is this cheesy?
A little too bouncy?But we kept it anyway and stood behind the message.
Weirdest awards show experience
I have quite a few incredible memories of the 2001 Grammy Awards.
It was Janet Jackson.
She was very familiar withHuman Clay.
Knew it from top to bottom.
And she was very complimentary and said some incredible things to me.
And then getting to meet the Edge from U2 and seeing the dynamic of the Edge and Bono.
U2 is probably my favorite band of all time;Joshua Treeis probably my favorite album of all time.
When you go No.
1, youre supposed to play in arenas.
Most lasting memory of the 2001 Thanksgiving Day Halftime Show
I tell ya, it was surreal.
Growing up, I was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan.
But you know what?
Looking back, I wouldnt change a thing.
It introduced our music to an entire new generation through the lens of sarcasm.
But it was the music that ended up catching them.
Its become evergreen, man.
And thats just a gift.
Its something to be thankful for.
But were also proud and grateful that we got to experience that.
It comes up every Thanksgiving now.
Its like a Mariah Carey Christmas album.
I just couldnt reach the other side because of the wall, but my hand was poking through.
Well see how it goes.
Tying that in with the Creed tour also; rising tides raise all ships.
Its a good energy thats going on right now.
Most surprising part about reuniting with Creed
The publics reaction.
I think thats the catalyst that helped us cross over and say, Lets do this!
The fans let us know:Were here.
And that has generated so much positivity that its rubbed off on the band.
All of our interactions have been positive, chill, good vibes.
The Creed rise was meteoric, and for my solo career I was back in the clubs, man.
Its almost like things happened backward for us.
A lot of artists worked 10, 15, 20 years to get their break.
Well, with Creed it was[snaps]like that.
So it feels good to be back.
