Q's With Scott Stapp: Back In The Game At Pollstar Live!

– Scott Stapp

During Scott Stapp’s lowest moments in late 2014, his struggles with addiction and mental health were reported in tabloids and broadcast across the internet, including a video he posted saying he was penniless.

The news was especially shocking for a musician who’d led Creed to become one of the biggest rock bands in the world in the late ’90s and early 2000s, with two No. 1 albums to its name and tours that filled arenas and stadiums.

After entering a dual diagnostic facility, the frontman put his career on hold so he could focus on his recovery and family life. Now, with more than five years of sobriety behind him and a new album to show off, Stapp is ready to rock again.

A tour is in the works in support of 2019’s The Space Between The Shadows, which includes the single “Purpose For Pain.” He’s even got a new team behind him, with ICM Partners’ Jon Pleeter and management from Shelter Music Group’s Carl Stubner and Tom Storms.

Stapp will discuss how he rebuilt his career during a candid discussion at Pollstar Live! with Ray Waddell, president of Oak View Group Media & Conferences. The Q&A takes place Wednedsay, Feb. 5 at 2-2:45 p.m. at the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom.

Pollstar: You celebrated five years of sobriety last spring and you’re still going strong. Congrats on all the work you’ve done to get to that point.

Scott Stapp: And it’s a daily thing, it’s something you can’t let up on. Addiction and mental health, even when they’re in remission, so to speak, you still have to maintain and live a life that promotes healing, health and wellbeing. So I’ve become an avid runner; I run five to seven miles every morning. I changed my diet. Coming out of the darkness and into a new life [is about] creating new positive habits and then reconciling with the past.

That leads me into what “Purpose For Pain” was all about. A buddy of mine had a riff and I said I’ve got some lyrics that would go really well with that riff. When we were talking I was sharing all of this that I’ve gone through. It can’t be for nothing; there has to be a purpose for it. I can’t live my life in guilt and in shame, I’ve made my amends … What do I do with this? One thing you learn in recovery is that all those experiences, you can pass those on. One person who communicated that to me many years ago, before I found true sobriety, was Steven Tyler.

I was in treatment and he was calling me two or three times a week, just sharing his story, giving me encouragement. His demonstration of how you can take these negative experiences and give them purpose and pay it forward led me to writing the song “Purpose For Pain.” It doesn’t just have to apply to people who have battled with addiction or mental health issues. It can be any adversity you go through in life.

You recently tweeted to ask fans for input in planning your next tour. What was the response?

The comments and responses were overwhelming. The cool thing is a lot of their comments lined up with what we’d been mapping out and sketching out anyway. There’s definitely some places that were brought up that hit our radar that we’re going to explore because of that. To keep that interaction is so important and that’s one of the gifts of social media.

Speaking of touring, you’re being booked by Jon Pleeter at ICM?

I’m very excited that kicking off 2020 I brought on a new team. Jon Pleeter at ICM is part of that team and also Carl Stubner and Tom Storms are my new managers at Shelter Music Group. And of course the wonderful Tiffany Shipp is my publicist. We’re just feeling really good about our new team and the label support and what this year is going to bring.

Carl Stubner actually managed me for my first solo record and quarterbacked that project to give me my first platinum record as a solo artist. We were both kind of joking around the other day that we don’t even really remember how it ended the first time. “I was like, ‘Man, I was in such a dark place, I took off to Maui and stayed there for a year and didn’t even talk to anyone.’” I was battling with depression and addiction … just hiding and fighting my demons. It’s good to come full circle with someone that I admire and respect.

What can we expect from your Q&A at Pollstar Live?

Ray [Waddell] and I are going to have a completely honest and transparent conversation. I’ve got a lot of stories to share, and I feel blessed today to be on the other side and humbled that I’ve been able to come back into this community with the maturity of finally understanding that the music industry is a bunch of people who are passionate and love music and they’ve invested their life into it. … As a young artist everything was just happening so fast and I didn’t really take the time to understand how important relationships are and how we’re all a community. … It’s a gift to have this opportunity again at this point in my life and my career.