Scott Stapp Comes Clean

Minneapolis Star-Tribune, May 19 2006

The former Creed frontman spiraled out of control, and now he's trying to stage a comeback, opening for INXS

Scott Stapp, rock's latest big embarrassment, is starting his solo career all over again. He had to.

The former Creed frontman released his debut solo album, "The Great Divide," in November and headlined several club shows but messed up too many times (more on that below). Now he's returning to the road as -- is this embarrassing or what? -- the opening act for INXS, which has been resurrected by reality TV.

For Stapp, reality hurts.

On Halloween, he reportedly sucker-punched a member of the band 311 in a bar. In December, he appeared drunk on Spike TV's "Casino Cinema," calling female workers unflattering names. In February, he was arrested for being intoxicated while trying to board a plane in Los Angeles the day after his wedding. A few days later, a 1999 tape of him having sex was released.

"That was the most humiliating thing," Stapp, 32, said of the tape featuring him, Kid Rock and some strippers. "When that tape thing surfaced, [I was] three days into my honeymoon with my second wife. That rained on her day, our wedding and our new life together. I was afraid she was going to leave me. Fortunately, I'd been honest with her about the indiscretions of my past. She put it in perspective."

The Spike TV incident was the second most embarrassing thing. He admits that he justified his bad-boy antics as typical rock-star behavior and his life spiraled out of control. Now he knows better: no booze, no more prescribed painkillers or anti-anxiety meds.

"I have been completely without anything in my body for 3½ months," said Stapp, who phoned right on time for the interview, which made him proud. "Nothing goes in my body but food, water and soda. Caffeine is the only thing in my body.

He talked about why Creed, one of the biggest post-grunge bands of the turn of the century, broke up in 2004 -- in his view, a combination of egos, lack of communication and lack of trust. Although he hasn't talked to the other three guys, he figures he's "buried the hatchet" and everyone should forgive each other. He doesn't think Creed will get back together, but says "I'll never close the door."

Stapp intentionally hasn't listened to Alter Bridge, the group formed by the other three members of Creed with a new singer. He's concentrating on his own band, which existed in Houston before hooking up with him, and on sorting out his own personal issues.

Stapp is struck by how quickly his image changed from spiritually obsessed rocker with a messianic stage manner to rock's latest bad boy. He thinks he's misunderstood.

"I'm too sensitive. I get hurt easily. I have a sense of humor, which I don't think comes across much. I'm very hard on myself. I think I come across like I have more confidence than I do.

"I'm just a regular guy with a different set of issues," continued the rocker, who has sole custody of his son, 7, from his first marriage. "Simple things are what make me the happiest. I probably think too much. I worry too much. I'm trying to be more in the now, take things as they come."

Stapp spent two weeks before the INXS tour started (they come to the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis on Thursday) visiting radio stations to hype his new single, "Justify." He's happy to "just get in front of audiences -- whoever or whenever."

For his tour, he has surrounded himself with a crew of older recovering addicts as well as a "sobriety coach."

"I'm at a sober place in my life," the singer said. "I finally realized certain things I was doing, which began in 2000, were really unhealthy and I was kind of spiraling out of control. It was all self-inflicted."

He realizes that he's lucky to get a second chance in the rock game. "A lot of people don't get that," he said. "I'm just thankful, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. It's a much more joyful and happy place than it has been in the past five years."