Creed are from Tallahassee, Florida, and came together after vocalist Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti, high school classmates at Orlando's Lake Highland Preparatory School, and friends at Florida State University, decided to form a band, the pair recruiting Brian Marshall (bass) and drummer Scott Phillips to complete the quartet in late 1994. Initially called Naked Toddler, their name was later changed to Maddox Creed, and then shortened to Creed. Debut album, “My Own Prison”, was independently released in 1997, costing them $6,000 to produce, and was distributed to radio stations in Florida, but it was whilst playing a small gig that Diana Meltzer from Wind-Up Records heard the group – she had also heard their independent album, and, impressed with both the album and their live sound, signed the band to her label. After a remix to make it more radio friendly, “My Own Prison” was re-released by Wind-Up Records across the US, reaching the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 album chart, and producing the singles "My Own Prison", "Torn", "What's This Life For", and "One", all of which topped the Rock Radio charts. The single "My Own Prison" was also featured as a live performance on the charity album “Live in the X Lounge”.

In 1998, Creed covered Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen" for "The Faculty" soundtrack, and in 1999, second album, “Human Clay”, was released, debuting on the Billboard 200 album chart at number 1, mainly due to first single "Higher", which spent several weeks atop the Rock Radio chart. In early 2000, the single entered the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Chart, followed by "With Arms Wide Open", which rose to number 1, and was awarded a Grammy in 2001 for “Best Rock Song”. Meanwhile, bassist Brian Marshall quit the band, with Brett Hestla (Virgos Merlot) taking over.

In 2001, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) began airing videos highlighting different wrestlers' careers as well as video highlights of the rigors of the road for wrestlers, and Creed songs were frequently used as background music - "My Sacrifice" being the most-used song (the first single from third album, 2001’s ”Weathered”). In early 2002, "Bullets" was released as a single, along with a costly, special effects-laden video, but the song and video were possibly Creed’s least successful. Undeterred, the band responded with “One Last Breath”, which became one of the biggest hits of summer 2002, and then released the minor hit "Don't Stop Dancing".

In June 2004, Creed officially announced their break-up, and released “Greatest Hits” towards the end of that year. Stapp began recording his debut solo album, “The Great Divide” with Roadrunner Records recording artist Goneblind, Hestla joined the band Dark New Day, and Tremonti and Phillips formed a new band, Alter Bridge, along with Myles Kennedy and former Creed bassist Brian Marshall.

In April 2009, Creed’s website officially announced the band's reunion tour and plans for a new album, with original bassist Brian Marshall also confirming that he would rejoin his former band mates. Stapp has confirmed that the reformation of Creed will put work on his second solo album on indefinite hiatus, and Tremonti, Phillips, Marshall, and Alter Bridge's publicist Michael Tremonti (Mark’s brother), have all stressed that Creed’s reunion will not affect Alter Bridge in any way and that they will go back into the studio after the Creed tour to record their upcoming third album.

Creed have sold an estimated 35 million records worldwide, including 26 million records in the US.