Scott Stapp
In June of '04, Wind-Up Records officially announced that Creed had broken up. During its run, the group sold over 30 million CDs. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Singer Scott Stapp was born in Orlando (August 8th, '73). He had a religious upbringing and internalized those beliefs. But that didn't stop him from getting expelled from Lee College in Cleveland, Tennessee, for using marijuana (probably inhaled too). Before long, he was in Creed for their successful run. But internal conflicts found Stapp at odds with the rest of the group.
It's not unusual for the vocalist of a massively popular band to go solo. Here's what was odd. Creed founding members Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips, and Brian Marshall went on to form Alter Bridge with vocalist Myles Kennedy. They effectively replaced their singer and moved on. In fact, Alter Bridge released an album long before Stapp got around to it. But Stapp did come through with "The Great Divide" released in '05.
Prior his album's release, Stapp contributed vocals to the acoustic ballad "Relearn Love" for the "Passion Of The Christ: Original Songs Inspired By The Film" compilation.
Then Stapp nailed a slick piece of marketing with NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing -bet you didn't know that's what it stands for). The title track was heard in NASCAR ads promoting the Chase For The Championship. Hey, he's from the south and NASCAR is as close to religion as religion there. Just to make sure everyone got the Stapp/NASCAR connection, he sang the national anthem at the Ford 400 race in Homestead, FL on the Sunday before his album's release.
On his own hook Stapp comes reasonably close to Creed. "The Great Divide" features heavy guitars and angst vocals. The album starts tough with "Fight Song" and "Justify" ("I do not have to justify my life"). They are followed by an obvious attempt to create anthems - the title track, "Let Me Go" and "Surround Me." These mid-tempo songs anchor the album. Deep into the set there are a pair of songs that really shine. Surprisingly, it's the acoustic flavored "Sublime" and the closing ballad "Broken."