Las Vegas Weekly

NOISE: The Scott Stapp Time Line of Misfortune

Just a few, short years ago, Scott Stapp was the frontman for America’s most popular rock band. Then began a downward spiral that has grabbed as many headlines as Creed ever did.

DECEMBER 31, 2002: Creed plays its final show, at Philadelphia's First Union Spectrum.

EARLY 2003: Stapp contemplates suicide, a 2006 Rolling Stone article reveals. One night at his home in Orlando, the singer drinks a bottle of Jack Daniel's, loads two machine guns and considers becoming a "Kurt Cobain martyr-type," before instead shooting up his residence, the magazine reports.

APRIL 2003: Four Chicago-area fans file a $2 million class-action lawsuit against Creed, alleging that Stapp "was so intoxicated and/or medicated that he was unable to sing the lyrics of a single Creed song" and that "Stapp left the stage on several occasions during songs for long periods of time, rolled around on the floor of the stage in apparent pain or distress and appeared to pass out while on stage" during a December 29, 2002, concert in Rosemont, Illinois. Creed issues an apology, and a judge later dismisses the case.

JUNE 2004: Creed announces its official breakup. Mark Tremonti and Scott Phillips form Alter Bridge with ex-Creed member Brian Marshall. Stapp begins work on his solo debut.

July 2005: Stapp allegedly spends the wee hours of a Friday night in a Gainesville, Florida, Denny's, in search of a girl he met at an airport. The story—in all its gory detail and with an accompanying photo—makes its way to the Internet via a blog, and quickly becomes a widespread phenomenon.

NOVEMBER 2005: Stapp releases solo debut, The Great Divide, to lukewarm reviews. Entertainment Weekly says, "Stapp certainly knows how to craft a ham-handed stadium anthem ... That said, is there a more self-important rocker out there? His Hallmark card cliches and dull portentousness weigh down every track." The album peaks at No. 19 on the Billboard 200, but sells more than one million units to earn platinum certification.

NOVEMBER 2005: Stapp and members of 311 reportedly fight in the lounge of a luxury hotel in Baltimore on Thanksgiving. According to 311 drummer Chad Sexton, Stapp steps between the band and a television, announcing, "311, I am ready to fight." Police are called to the scene, but no arrests are made.

FEBRUARY 2006: Video clips from a sex tape allegedly involving Stapp, Kid Rock and four female fans, supposedly shot at Rock's motor home in 1999, appear online. "He's the idiot because it's out," Rock says, responding to Stapp's claim the tape was stolen. A judge grants Rock's request for a preliminary injunction, blocking the distribution of the full tape, for now.

FEBRUARY 2006: While en route to Hawaii for his honeymoon, Stapp is arrested on suspicion of public intoxication at LA International airport. No charges are filed. In a statement, Stapp says: "We all make mistakes, and the day will come soon enough where you no longer read of mine in the tabloids."