We want to hear from you! Passion Breeds Followers is a site by the fans, for the fans. If you have a comment, suggestion, or request, drop us a note!
On Sinking Sand?
Tribune Chronicle, February 23 2006
If they gave gold and platinum awards for bad publicity the way they do for record sales, Scott Stapp could fill separate rooms with each.
In its three-album career, Creed sold more than 11 million copies of its "Human Clay'' CD and topped six million with "My Own Prison'' and "Weathered.'' But what the public loved, the music press and many fellow musicians loathed, turning the band's name into a synonym for everything wrong with contemporary music. Most of the venom was reserved for frontman Stapp, whose Pentecostal upbringing (and its influence on Creed's lyrics) along with the rock God poses he struck in concert were seen by many as a pompous and sanctimonious combination. When fans in Chicago sued in 2003 after a concert where they claimed Stapp was too wasted to perform, the band became a punchline as well as a punching bag.
After the rest of the Creed split with Stapp and formed Alter Bridge, Stapp had the bad press all to himself. In the last four months, there was a drunken brawl with members of 311, an appearance on Spike TV's "Casino Cinema'' where Stapp was described as obviously intoxicated and a story in Rolling Stone that portrayed him as a suicidal addict and alcoholic.
That story just hit newstands when Stapp was scheduled to take part in a telephone press conference with a small group of reporters. If the temptation is to dodge the media, the need to promote a new album and tour apparently is greater.
Stapp's first solo album, "The Great Divide,'' has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, but that reflects the number of CDs shipped, not sold. According to the Rolling Stone article, units sold is at less than half of the 1 million mark. And while Creed had no trouble selling out Cleveland's Gund Arena at its peak, tickets remain for Stapp's March 8 show at House of Blues, which has a capacity less than 10 percent of the arena.
The man on the other end of the phone is understandably defensive but unwavering in his assertion that his problems have been exaggerated and manufactured.
Take the "Weathered'' tour and the infamous Chicago show. Stapp says he was battling voice problems and other health issues and continued on the tour at the insistence of the other band members and his manager.
"I only did what I did during the 'Weathered' tour by using Prednisone and other medications that I used, because those guys were so adamant and my management was so adamant that if I didn't do this tour it would ruin my career,'' Stapp says.
The massive doses he was taking for his throat caused personality changes and depression, which led to him taking other drugs to balance the effects. He also started drinking heavily. He claims the doctor who prescribed him all those medications has since lost his license, but the toughest pill to swallow was the way his bandmates turned on him.
"That they didn't have my back hurt then and then the way things have been handled hurt later, because I felt like they all should have known that I never should have been out on tour in the first place - It almost killed me, and I've had three or four doctors tell me I am lucky to be alive right now.''
He also refutes the impression left by the Rolling Stone story that his drug and alcohol problems continued from the "Weathered'' tour to the present. He says everything was out of his system shortly after the tour, and events like the bar fight with 311 and his Spike TV appearance were bonehead mistakes that happened to occur in public.
The day he appeared on Spike TV in New York, Stapp says, he got together with his friends - major league baseball pitchers David Cone and David Wells - and informed them that he was engaged. What audiences saw on "Casino Cinema'' was the aftermath of an impromptu bachelor party.
According to Stapp, in the last three years he's had too much to drink only "six, seven or eight times.''
Of course, it would be easier to accept Stapp's explanation if, three weeks after the interview, he wasn't arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Feb. 11 for suspicion of being drunk in a public place. Stapp was married the day before to model Jaclyn Nesheiwat, and the couple was on their way to Hawaii for their honeymoon. According to news reports, Stapp's blood-alcohol level was .18, twice the legal limit.
Stapp was saying in January that he planned to have a dry tour.
"I just don't need it in my life, not because I want to drink it every day, I never did that. (But) if it's around, it might be 'Hey, the Super Bowl's on. Let's have some drinks.' And even if it's just beer, the next thing you know I've got a 12 pack of beer in me and then you never know what can happen.
"I never want to be in a place, where even if it's only five or six times a year and I've got some responsible people watching my son, I never want to be in a place where I cannot be called upon 24 hours a day to get out of bed and be there for my wife and my son.''
Stapp did spend some time talking about music. He's touring with the same musicians he recorded "The Great Divide'' with, and the band was rehearsing twice a day in preparation for his first solo tour, which starts tonight in Orlando, Fla.
While the solo CD will get plenty of exposure, Stapp isn't abandoning his roots. The band is rehearsing "Higher,'' "With Arms Wide Open,'' "My Sacrifice'' and other Creed favorites as well as the new songs.
"Those are songs from my past that I still connect with,'' he says. "It's going to be a collaboration of the old with the new.''
He also plans to build more off days into the tour to avoid the voice problems that developed under Creed's relentless touring schedule.
"We're trying to find what my body can handle and enjoy. We are going to give this run a try, and if that works right, we'll take two, three weeks off and then go on the next run. We'll play, like, Tuesday, Wednesday, take off Thursday, play Friday, Saturday. We're going to play around a little bit and just figure out what's best for my voice and my body for me to be able to do what I like to do.''
Stapp is using the tour to raise money for his Scott Stapp Foundation, a continuation of the With Arms Wide Open Foundation that he started as a member of Creed. Since 2000, more than $1 million has been donated to more than 50 organizations, and $1 from every ticket sold on his current tour will be funneled to charity, primarily food banks.
Until his mother remarried when he was 11 years old, Stapp says his family struggled financially, and the foundation is his way to give back.
"Having a heart doesn't mean you're a perfect example, but you do what you can.''
Stapp no longer struggles financially. He's recording and touring not because he has to but because it's who he is - "If I wasn't in the public eye and I wasn't making records, I would still try to find a band and jam and write songs.''
But clearly he has other struggles, even if there happens to be a camera or a cop present whenever they surface.
At the end of the conversation, Stapp says, "I'll pray for all you guys tonight, whether you like me or not.''
And, hopefully, he'll save a prayer for himself.
.Andy Gray