Creed frontman Scott Stapp was born Anthony Scott Flippen in Goldsboro, North Carolina, on August 8, 1973. Stapp’s mother Lydia worked as an elementary school teacher and he knew little of his biological father. He was later adopted by his mother’s second husband, dentist Stephen Stapp, and took his last name. To avoid having the initials A.S.S., Stapp later elected to also change his first and middle names. Stapp’s stepfather was a Pentecostal minister and upheld strict rules in the house. The singer became interested in music at a young age and, while speaking with Spin in 2000, revealed Elvis Presley as one of his early inspirations:“I definitely had an Elvis complex when I was a little kid. I thought he was the coolest guy in the world,” he said. After finding trouble repeatedly in his youth, Stapp attended several universities before ending up at Florida State. It was there that he reconnected with a former high school friend, Mark Tremonti, with whom he founded Creed in 1995. The band soon gained the attention of manager Jeff Hanson (Candlebox, Sevendust, Paramore) who fronted $6,000 to record their debut album in 1997.