Creed's first two studio albums, My Own Prison (1997) and Human Clay (1999), were released to commercial success despite generally unfavorable critical reception; Marshall left the band in 2000.

Human Clay contained the Billboard Hot 100 number one single "With Arms Wide Open"—which also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2001.

Creed disbanded in 2004; Stapp pursued a solo career while Tremonti, Phillips, and Marshall founded the band Alter Bridge with Myles Kennedy.

[4] Founding members vocalist Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti had been classmates in high school and friends at Florida State University.

After multiple discussions and much time spent writing songs, several of which addressed themes of Christian theology and spirituality (due to Stapp's spiritual background as the stepson of a Pentecostal minister), the duo held auditions that led to the recruitment of bassist Brian Marshall, drummer Scott Phillips, and rhythm guitarist Brian Brasher, completing the quintet.

[4][6] 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.

[8] The album, titled My Own Prison, was initially self-released on their own label, Blue Collar Records in April 1997, selling 6,000 copies throughout Florida.

[9] According to Tremonti in his "Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction" video in 2015, Creed had been rejected by Atlantic and Cherry Universal Records before Wind-up flew down to sign them.

1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, making Creed the first band to accomplish such a feat with a debut album.

[5] 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.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic gave it four out of five stars and said that Creed "work well within their boundaries" despite "basically [falling] into the category of post-Seattle bands who temper their grunge with a dose of Live earnestness.

1 on the Billboard 200 and selling over ten million copies over the next two years, allowing it to become one of the few rock albums to be certified diamond by the RIAA.

"[19] The lyrical content of Human Clay is a slight departure from that of My Own Prison, touching on subjects such as fatherhood ("With Arms Wide Open") and lucid dreaming ("Higher"), as well as darker, more violent themes such as sexual abuse ("Wash Away Those Years") and hostility ("What If").

Six singles were released from the album: "My Sacrifice" (which earned the band a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 2003), "Bullets", "One Last Breath", "Hide", "Don't Stop Dancing", and "Weathered".

[26] The tour to promote Weathered was met with considerable controversy; it was delayed in April 2002 when Stapp suffered a concussion and vertebrae damage after being involved in a car crash.

Four disappointed concertgoers filed a lawsuit against the band, claiming that Scott Stapp "was so intoxicated and/or medicated that he was unable to sing the lyrics of a single Creed song.

After reflecting on some of the greatest personal and professional moments of our lives, we've come to realize that we are still very capable of continuing that career and our friendship on a grander scale than ever before.

"[33] In June 2009, Creed performed with Marshall on bass for the first time in eight years on Sessions@AOL, showing the band playing four of their hits.

[37] The performance shattered Justin Timberlake's world record for the most cameras used at a live music event by using an unprecedented total of 239.

[clarification needed] The performance also featured the first usage of the "big freeze" technology, popularized by the 1999 film The Matrix, in a concert environment.

A tour was also announced in which the band would perform their first two albums, My Own Prison and Human Clay, from front to back over the course of two nights, with selected tracks from Weathered and Full Circle also featured.

[49] In June 2015, while promoting his second solo album Cauterize, Mark Tremonti claimed in an interview with Kerrang that he "[hasn't] been a close friend of Scott's in 9 years".

He did not speak to Stapp throughout the South American Tour in 2012 and plans for their fifth studio album were shelved, and they continued to work with Myles Kennedy in Alter Bridge.

[58] The song became popular with fans and the team alike to the point that the Texas Rangers had singalongs for "Higher" during games during October.

The tour will feature more than 40 shows across the US with support from 3 Doors Down as well as Finger Eleven, Daughtry, Switchfoot, Tonic, and Big Wreck on select dates.

[a] Stapp's influences include Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, Def Leppard, U2, The Doors, and Led Zeppelin.

[88][89] Guitarist Mark Tremonti's influences include thrash metal bands like Slayer, Metallica, Exodus, and Forbidden.

According to a 1999 piece in The Washington Post:The biblical imagery of singer Scott Stapp's lyrics got Creed typed as Christian rock by early listeners, and the band's denial of any religious objective has unsettled some of its more fervent fans.

[98] Jonah Weiner of Slate has tried to make the case that the band was "seriously underrated";[99] Joe Coscarelli of Mediaite countered that "most people hate Creed's combination of overwrought power-balladry and Christian-infused testosterone.