Before They Were Rock Stars

VH1

Narrator: Plenty of kids dream of becoming rock stars, but Creed lead singer Scott Stapp was determined to make his dream a reality.

Scott: I was definitely motivated. When I set my mind to something it's like a hundred miles an hour non-stop.

Narrator: Scott got his first taste of the spotlight in a school production of Yankee Doodle Dandy. But living in a strict Christian household, he'd have to wait a few years to develop his rock star persona. Scott: I was a late bloomer, hit puberty late and I was not real popular to say the least. You know I got made fun of a lot.

Narrator: By the time Scott left Florida State he'd left his awkward adolensense behind and decided he had what it took to be a rock front man.

Scott: I didn't know really a good musician from a bad musician. I just wanted people to play, and let me sing, and let me sing my words.

Narrator: One of Scott's college roommates recorded this 1995 performance, which also included future Creed drummer Scott Phillips.

Beth Sigignano: After I filmed it I just had a bunch of tapes and I just put them away and then I started hearing the name of the band and seeing him on the cover of a cd. And it's like Oh, I know him.

Beth: At the time the band's name was Naked Toddler. We were having a party. I asked him to play that night. I knew the band was wanting to get gigs and become known around Tallahassee and that was just a good opportunity for them, plus they had good music and it was good entertainment.

Most of the time when the band played out, they would play a mixture between cover songs and the music that Scott had written. I knew that they preferred to play the music that he had written, but the crowd didn't know his music, so to keep them listening they would play the cover songs.

Scott: We went through a few styles, all of our influences came forward, and then finally we said man when are we going to find our own sound? And then one day it just, it just happened.