As the lead singer of Creed, Scott Stapp sold 24 million records.
When it comes to rock music, only U2 and Metallica sold more in the last 10 years.
Scott?s personal life, however, was quickly becoming a mess, culminating in the ultimate embarrassment ? thepublic release of a sex tape.
?How did you break it to your wife?? Access? Tony Potts asked the singer.
?Oh, we saw it on TV,? Scott told Tony. ?That?s how it got broken to me.?
An awkward way to receive stunning news!
Back in February, the story broke that a sex tape shot seven years ago featuring Scott, Kid Rock and a group of strippers was about to go on sale online.
The sellers? The same company that released Paris Hilton?s sex tape.
After some soul-searching,Scott spoke to Access about the scandal and its aftermath.
?There is no sexual intercourse on that tape,? Scott told Tony. ?It was me and Kid Rock hanging out in his trailer, and there were some strippers there, and the way it was cut and spliced kind of took things out of context.?
A court order prevented the video?s release, but rock is bashing Stapp, saying: ?He?s an idiot because it?s out. I?m holding him responsible.?
?What was your response to what he said?? Tony asked.
?I wouldn?t have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal fees trying to keep it under wraps, if I released it, trying to get it back,? Scott told us.
But it?s just one of many public problems for Stapp that began surfacing three years ago while he was touring with Creed.
Due to serious health issues, Scott began taking a growing cocktail of prescription drugs.
?My body was a chemistry experiment basically to keep the machine going,? Scott acknowledged.
?Machine, meaning?? Tony wondered.
?The band,? Scott explained.
In 2004, under those pressures, the ?Creed machine? broke down and disbanded. Then, last November, Stapp?s drunken behavior took center stage once again ? first, with a bar brawl, then a belligerent TV appearance on Spike TV, when he ripped Howard Stern?s girlfriend, Beth Ostrosky.
Everything culminated with an arrest for ?public intoxication? at the Los Angeles International Airport, right after Scott got married.
Luckily, he was not charged.
?I thought, I just got married, I?m on my way to my honeymoon,? Scott explained. ?Let?s have a few Mai Tai?s before we get to Maui.?
?The question you have to ask yourself is, ?Am I an alcoholic??? Tony said. ?Did you ask yourself that question??
?Yeah, and I?m still working on that answer,? Scott said. ?I?ll tell ya one thing. I?m darn sure not drinking right now.?
Scott is working hard to keep it together. He?s on tour supporting his first solo album, ?The Great Divide,? but it?s his new wife, Jaclyn Newsheiwait, whom he credits with turning his life around.
?And without her, where would you be?? Tony asked.
?I wouldn?t have a record out right now,? Scott simply said. ?I might even be dead.?
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