Scott Stapp sobers up and gets to work

By any measure Scott Stapp had an eventful start to 2006.

First came his marriage on Feb. 10 to Jaclyn Nesheiwa, 2004’s Miss New York. That was the good part.

The next day, as Stapp planned to fly to Hawaii for his honeymoon, he was arrested for drunk and disorderly behavior at Los Angeles International Airport, the latest in a series of alcohol-related incidents for the former Creed singer.

Then on Feb. 22 came news of the planned release of a 1999 sex tape featuring Stapp and fellow rocker Kid Rock and four women. Both Kid Rock and Stapp have sued to stop distribution of the tape.

Stapp opens for INXS Saturday at Marymoor Park in Redmond.

To his credit, Stapp, in a phone interview a day after the sex-tape story broke, didn’t sidestep any of the incidents, calling the sex tape an ill-advised attempt by two then-emerging rock stars to do what they thought their rock-and-roll idols did.

He also accounted for his drinking and drug problems, addressed how they contributed to the breakup of Creed, and also touched on his recently released first solo CD, “The Great Divide,” and his first headlining tour as a solo artist.

For Stapp, life was moving along swimmingly until 2002. At the time, Creed was arguably rock’s biggest act, coming off a second CD, the 1999 release “Human Clay,” that had sold more than 11 million copies.

But things soon unraveled in spectacular fashion.

Where did it all go wrong? Stapp points to an April 2002 car accident that delayed the start of Creed’s tour in support of the band’s third CD, “Weathered,” as the first domino. His problems were compounded later by a case of pneumonia, then the discovery of nodules on his vocal cords.

Stapp said that with “Weathered” to promote, Creed was under huge outside pressure to stay on tour. He decided to start getting injections of an anti-inflammatory steroid, prednisone, to combat his throat problems.

Unfortunately, Stapp said, the prednisone gave him severe anxiety attacks.

“I’d be shaking in my bus, I’d be depressed, and I didn’t know what was wrong with me,” he said. “I had to do my shows. And one brilliant, stupid day in my life I was like, ‘Maybe if I had something to drink it would take this feeling away.’ And it helped.”

Stapp began drinking more and more as the tour continued. Reeling from the effects of the drugs and drinking, Stapp readily admits that he kept to himself and grew more isolated from his Creed bandmates, and that they must not have known what he was going through.

The low point came at a show in Chicago on Dec. 29, 2002. A drunken Stapp took the stage, slurred his way through songs and punctuated his performance by falling backward over a sound monitor.

An attempt was made in 2003 to start a fourth Creed CD, but nothing came from that session. In June 2004, Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti and drummer Scott Phillips announced they had left Creed to form a new band, Alter Bridge.

Stapp stepped away from music for a time and says he has been clean for the past two years. He was clearly in good enough shape last year to record his solo debut CD, “The Great Divide.” The CD was released in November and has since sold more than 300,000 copies.

But then troubles again surfaced. On Thanksgiving Day 2005, Stapp, after announcing his engagement, got into a fight with members of the band 311 at a hotel in Baltimore.

Stapp readily admits he was drunk, and said the members of 311 were, too. The two parties, though, have told nearly opposite stories of how the fight began, with 311 saying Stapp instigated the fight by insulting the wife of vocalist S.A. Martinez. Stapp maintains a member of 311 insulted his fiance, and said hotel management and security back his account of the events.

Then on Feb. 11 came his arrest at the Los Angeles airport. In the interview, Stapp was contrite about his behavior.

“A lady said something to me that worked at the counter and said it in a derogatory, kind of angry, mean way,” he said. “I corrected her and said please don’t speak to me (in that way). And then she made a big deal out of it, and that’s what it is.

“But the bottom line is I drank, and there are no exceptions. I know that now. I thought I could do that on my honeymoon, man. I didn’t think there was a problem.”

Now Stapp realizes he can’t drink period and says he’s primed and ready to tour in support of “The Great Divide,” a CD that finds him continuing very much in the emotional, grungy but melodic hard rock tradition of Creed.

He said alcohol “is something I can’t have in my life, and I live every day with the mindset that it’s not in my life. I can’t say that I’ll never make a mistake (again), because I’m human.

“But as far as I’m concerned, it’s something that is no longer a part of my life and will not be a part of my life.”

Scott Stapp opens for INXS Saturday at Marymoor Park.