Mark Tremonti of Creed

Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is an American musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. He is a founding member of both bands, and has also collaborated with many other artists over the years. He released his debut solo album, All I Was, in July 2012. His sophomore solo record Cauterize is slated for release in June 2015.

Since his early years with Creed, Tremonti has received positive recognition as a guitarist and songwriter and has received a number of accolades, including one Grammy Award for Creed's single "With Arms Wide Open." He was also named "Guitarist of the Year" for three consecutive years by Guitar World, and in 2011 he was listed in Total Guitar magazine as the fourth greatest heavy metal guitarist of all time.


Tremonti was born on April 18, 1974, in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up in an Italian Roman Catholic family in Grosse Pointe, just outside of Detroit, for most of his childhood life before moving to Wilmette, Illinois. He began to become enthralled with music, and bought his first guitar at the age of eleven. When he was fifteen, his family moved again to Orlando, Florida, where he enrolled in Lake Highland Preparatory School. During this time, his mother was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, which left Tremonti devastated. After graduation, he moved to Clemson, South Carolina to attend Clemson University to major in finance. After his freshman year in college, he moved back to Florida to enroll in Florida State University, where he was reunited with his then future Creed band mate Scott Stapp, who Tremonti had known in high school.


On December 14, 2002, Tremonti married Victoria Rodriguez, with whom he has two sons, Austen and Pearson. They currently reside in Orlando, Florida.

Tremonti is a collector of guitars, amplifiers, and pinball machines, and is known to enjoy playing table tennis. He is also an avid fan of reading: "Five or six years ago," he told Artistdirect, "I started going crazy reading books. Now, I can't get enough." He has listed works such as the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, Old Man's War by John Scalzi, The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, and On Writing by Stephen King as some of his favorites.

One of Tremonti's brothers, Michael, is Alter Bridge's fan liaison and publicist. Another brother, Dan, has created the artwork for all of the albums by both Alter Bridge and Creed and is the president and creative director of a design/marketing company called Core Twelve. Tremonti's mother died in January 2002 and Alter Bridge's song "In Loving Memory" is a tribute to her.