Frontman for the famous rock band “Creed” described how he returned to his Christian faith. The band blew up in the post-grunge era of the late 90s and became sensational hits. The songs, written by Stapp, are known for their Christian-themed, uplifting lyrics.
Scott said, “I would feel a connection with God when I wrote the words and when I would sing the songs, learning the songs, I would feel the Holy Spirit.” However, despite the lyricism leading many to believe that Creed was a Christian band, they were not. Furthermore, Stapp’s bandmates strongly opposed the Christian undertones displayed in their music.
After their debut album “My Own Prison” went platinum, the band enjoyed a meteoric rise to success. “I enjoyed it,” Stapp stated. “The band enjoyed it. And you know in my view, that’s what was supposed to happen. Ironically, although I was living this lifestyle and caught up in the mentality of rock and roll superstardom, when I was alone and writing, I would pray to God, pray to my father and make deals. And one of the deals that I made was father, I promise I’ll stay true to you in my words and the lyrics that I write. Just make us a success.”
However, amid the stardom and massive success that Creed enjoyed, Stapp endured a tumultuous, internal struggle with his faith. “I was a Christian who was in rebellion and running from the brand of Christianity that I was raised on,“ said Scott.
Describing his spiritual battle while he was writing his songs, Stapp said, “Only when I would sit down at that point in time, to write my lyrics for an album. It’s ironic that every time I sat down in a song that was addressing a spiritual issue or me wrestling with my beliefs or my faith, it would always be resolved at the end.”
Stapp’s struggles culminated in a devastating fall he endured in Miami after a night of drinking. “Inevitably I land, and landing a ledge specifically designed to catch seagull waste, that it,” he said. “I really felt, even in that moment, I felt that’s where I belonged. And it was a real epiphany as I laid there and cried out to God and asked for help.” The singer explained how this was an eye-opening, spiritual experience him.
“I opened my eyes,” said Scott. “And they were blurry and I see two angels. And I’m kinda doing this and its Jaclyn and her mother and they’re washing my feet. They’re washing the dirt and blood and every thing off my feet, crying, sobbing and praying. And in that moment, and I get goose bumps talking about it, if there was any doubt who these women were and what they meant in my life, and I will go to my grave feeling this, that they were angels in my life, sent for me, there was no doubt after that moment.”
Stapp concluded, “The redemption as I feel it and understand it is God taking this mess that I had become and creating it and turning it into a message. God is there. And you know, if my life can be an example of God taking the unlovable…then God can love anybody, anybody. You’ve just gotta come. Gotta surrender.”
Featured image credit: Republic Country Club, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scott_Stapp_2016.jpg