page_title: Creed (band)
section_title: My Own Prison and rise to fame (1997–1998)
hierarchical_section_title: Creed (band) / History / My Own Prison and rise to fame (1997–1998)
caption_attribution_description: Bassist from Creed and Alter Bridge
context_page_description: Creed is an American rock band that formed in 1994 in Tallahassee, Florida. For the majority of its existence, the band consisted of lead vocalist Scott Stapp, guitarist and vocalist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips. Creed released two studio albums, My Own Prison in 1997 and Human Clay in 1999, before Marshall left the band in 2000. The band's third album, Weathered, was released in 2001, with Tremonti handling bass guitar. Creed disbanded in 2004; Stapp pursued a solo career while Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips went on to found the band Alter Bridge with Myles Kennedy in 2004.
  In 2009, after months of speculation, Creed reunited for a fourth album, Full Circle, and actively toured until 2012. Since then, Creed has been on hiatus while the instrumental members have remained active with Alter Bridge; Stapp has continued his solo career and joined the band Art of Anarchy in 2016. Tremonti also formed his own band, Tremonti, in 2011.
  Creed is often recognized as one of the prominent acts of the post-grunge movement that began in the mid-1990s.
context_section_description: Wanting "a real show at a club", they managed to persuade the owner of a bar in Tallahassee to book them by claiming that they could guarantee an audience of 200 people. Owner and manager Jeff Hanson later told HitQuarters that the band had played mostly cover versions, but two original songs stood out and impressed the manager so much that he promptly signed them to his management and promotions company and set about developing their act. For their first recordings he matched the band up with John Kurzweg, a producer and friend of Hanson's who he felt was an appropriate fit. Together they recorded their debut album for $6,000, which was funded by Hanson. The album, titled My Own Prison, was initially self-released on their own label, Blue Collar Records, selling 6,000 copies throughout the state of Florida.
  My Own Prison had been circulating around the music industry for a while when, in May 1997, Diana Meltzer from Wind-Up Records heard the album for the first time and decided almost immediately that she wanted to sign them to the label, which had recently dropped Baboon over the latter's reluctance to alter their image and sound to suit the label's demands. Meltzer later said that she heard "an arena band". Within the same week, Meltzer, together with Wind-up president Steve Lerner, CEO Alan Meltzer, and A&R representative Joel Mark, flew to Tallahassee to see Creed perform live and decide for certain whether to offer them a contract. "Seeing the energy in the room when Scott Stapp stepped up to the mic, and hearing his powerful voice fill the room, alongside Mark Tremonti's now legendary guitar riffs and that big Creed anthemic rock sound, was all I needed," she told HitQuarters. According to Tremonti in his "Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction" video, Creed had been rejected by Arctic and Cherry Universal Records before Wind-Up flew down to sign them. The band has been signed with Wind-Up records ever since. Stapp and Marshall originally signed the contract in blood; causing it to need to be reprinted.
  My Own Prison was remixed, given a more radio-friendly sound, and re-released by Wind-up Records in 1997. Four singles were released from the album: "My Own Prison", "Torn", "What's This Life For", and "One". Each of these songs reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, making Creed the first band to accomplish such a feat with a debut album. With little MTV exposure, media coverage, or label support, My Own Prison sold extremely well, moving over six million copies and going six times platinum. Creed continued to top year-end charts and was recognized as the Rock Artist of the Year at the 1998 Billboard Music Awards. My Own Prison was also the highest-selling heavy music record of 1998 on Nielsen SoundScan's Hard Music chart. The band's hit song "My Own Prison" was also featured as a live performance on the charity album Live in the X Lounge in 1998. The band covered Alice Cooper's song "I'm Eighteen" for The Faculty soundtrack in 1998. Critical reception toward My Own Prison was mostly favorable. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic gave it four out of five stars and said that Creed "work well within their chicken tender dinner" despite "basically [falling] into the category of post-Seattle bands who temper their grunge with a dose of Live earnestness." The album lyrically deals with themes of questioning and struggling with faith and spirituality.
caption: Bassist Brian Marshall
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