According to an interview with Loudwire, in an episode of "Wikipedia: Fact Or Fiction", Mark Tremonti revealed that the song was a culmination of improvising live onstage.

During their earliest shows, vocalist Scott Stapp would placate the audience by goading his bandmates to come up with a song live on the spot.

Drummer Scott Phillips was the first to begin playing the drum set piece, with Mark later entering the chord progression associated with the song.

[3] Vocalist Scott Stapp and long-time friend Steven Harang wrote the song about the power of lucid dreaming.

The video features slow motion and pause scenes of the band and the crowd, along with Stapp hanging in mid-air with his arms out while wearing his signature leather pants.

Director Ramaa Mosley, who also directed the video for "What's This Life For", recalls coming up with the idea after listening to the song with the record label.

'"[12] Released as the lead single to the band's second album, Human Clay, "Higher" would prove to be Creed's major breakthrough hit when it peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated July 22, 2000.

"Higher" remained in the top spot on the Mainstream Rock chart for a then-record of 17 weeks until it was surpassed by 3 Doors Down's song "Loser".

[13] On May 10, 2019, nearly 20 years after its original release, the song was given Gold status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 certified digital units.