Creed Are Back, and I’m Here for It

2024-07-18

Creed band image. Creed are back with a major tour, and I'm here for it. It's the reunion people have been waiting on for decades.

Creed are back – Author: Anne Erickson, Photo via Chuck Brueckmann

For whatever reason, Creed was the brunt of jokes for years. I guess that’s what happens when you’re one of the biggest rock bands in the world. You get some backlash. But, Creed are back with a major tour, and I’m here for it. It’s the reunion people have been waiting on for decades.

Creed Are Back, and I’m Here for It

When you think of the rock band Creed, you probably think of a band that broke out in the 2000s. But, Creed actually formed in the mid-1990s in Tallahassee, Florida. So, they’ve been around longer than many people realize. They broke big pretty soon after the release of their debut album, “My Own Prison,” in 1997. The guys first released the album on their own label, Blue Collar Records, in Florida and sold 6,000 copies. Then, they signed a record deal wind Wind-Up Records, and the album got released in a mass scale.

I’ll never forget the first time I heard “My Own Prison,” the album’s title track. It was on the radio, and I was like, “Who is this? I have to know this band.” I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. The single and entire album blew up, and Creed quickly became one of the most-played bands on rock radio in the late-1990s. Song such as “My Own Prison,” “Torn” and “One” became regulars on rock radio. I wore that whole CD out and actually had to buy another one. I got into radio years later and ended up playing some of these songs on the radio, although they were years old at that point.

Creed followed “My Own Prison” up with the blockbuster “Human Clay,” which actually took the guys in an even more mainstream and massively popular direction. Songs such as “Higher,” “What If,” “With Arms Wide Open” and “Are You Ready” became major hits on a variety of different radio formats.

Creed released “Weathered” in 2001, and embarked on a massive tour to support the album. Then, a few years later, Creed broke up in 2004. There were tensions between lead vocalist Scott Stapp and the rest of the band, so it just wasn’t working anymore.

Stapp went on to pursue solo music, and the rest of Creed formed what became a very successful rock band in Alter Bridge with vocalist Myles Kennedy.

But, even with all of their success apart, there was always an appetite for a Creed reunion. Now, we have one.

Creed have reunited over the years for some tours and shows, but this one is big. Creed are back. They’re headlining a few cruises, but even bigger is that they’re embarking on two massive tours.

Creed kicked off their “Summer of ’99” North American reunion tour at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday night (July 17). It marked the group’s first proper tour in 12 years. The group delivered a 16-song set heavy, with most of the tracks hailing from “Human Clay.” I personally favor Creed’s debut album, and they played a handful of tracks off that set, including the title track and “What’s This Life For?”

I spoke with Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti about the reunion a few months ago, and he said that was pushed the guys to do a proper tour was seeing how quickly their Creed cruises sold out.

“It just made sense, and when it came out and it did so well (the Creed cruises), it made us really reevaluate what we were going to do the rest of the year, and that’s when we announced the tour,” he said. “The funny thing is everything happened naturally at once, with all the hype with the Rangers playing the music and Vikings playing the music. Just the other night, my kid showed me a clip of the Green Bay Packers playing ‘Higher’ at the stadium.”

He added, “It’s a great coincidence that Creed is coming back into the fold in popular culture, which has been great for us, since we just planned the tour at the same time.”

I agree, Mark. I agree. Creed are back, and that’s a great thing.

Anne Erickson
Latest posts by Anne Erickson (see all)
Posted by Anne Erickson | Music, Rock, Rock News

Related Posts