Scott Stapp, spokesman for Creed, which won four awards, said backstage the group's biggest tragedy this year was losing member Mark Tremonti's mother. "That's tough for him and for the friends who care about his family. When you're still dealing with that, and the car wreck and piling on, we want to fight back and let our audience know we don't want to let them down. So we try to keep working and we lose our voices. But we can't whine. We have to take it as it comes."

"This year the awards will mean more to us, there have been so many distractions and so many things going wrong- to be recognized is kind of a shock. To win four awards, especially Group of the Year, that's an accomplishment for us. We're looking for anything to bring a smile to our face."

Backstage at the Billboard music awards

By LUAINE LEE
December 11, 2002