My Sacrifice

2001 single by Creed

"My Sacrifice" is a song by American rock band Creed. It was released on October 16, 2001, as the lead single from their third studio album, Weathered. The song peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of February 9, 2002, and reached number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for nine consecutive weeks, beginning in December 2001. Worldwide, the song was a top 20 hit in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 2003 at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards.

Scott Stapp recalls the writing process of "My Sacrifice" in a 2019 interview with Kerrang. Blockquote|"From what I remember, writing it happened the way things usually happened when we wrote together – Mark's got an acoustic guitar and I've got some lyrics I've begun, or we're just freestyling and something comes out. A melody or a line or a lyric comes out and we start playing off each other and discussing, 'Let's go here, let's go there, let's do this' and then I would step away from that session and go bury myself into the lyric writing. And then I'd get back together with him and we would develop the song even more. It all came together in a very symbiotic way – like 90 per cent of the songs came during our writing relationship did." — Stapp

"My Sacrifice" is written in the key of D major, with Tremonti playing in open D5, which he states is his favourite guitar tuning. Stapp sings in his signature baritone vocal style with his vocal range spanning from F#3 F#4 in scientific pitch notation. Stapp stated that the meaning of the song lyrics was about his own personal struggles with battling substance abuse, addiction and alcoholism and failing despite his best efforts, and him coming to terms with his inability to stay on the straight and narrow.

On October 10, the band posted a downloadable Creed pager on their official website as well as on VH1. com, which enabled fans first access to the bands music and news, including early access to downloading "My Sacrifice" prior to its official release. The pager experienced 20,000 downloads in just its first day of release. Officially released on October 16, as the lead single to the bands third studio album, Weathered, the song found success in the United States, debuting at number 50 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of October 27, 2001, and entering the top 10 by the final week of the year. The song would peak at number four on the issue of February 9, 2002—the band's second highest charting single on the Hot 100 after their only number one hit, "With Arms Wide Open"—and would remain on the chart for 29 weeks. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal but once again lost, this time to "In My Place" by Coldplay. The official video for "My Sacrifice" on YouTube is the bands second most viewed video on the website, after "One Last Breath", with over 200 million views.

"My Sacrifice" has been used in a variety of sports media; it was used in a series of promotional tribute videos made by WWE that aired throughout late 2001 into early 2002, showcasing the promotion's roster at the time and illustrating their dedication, desire, and sacrifice. It was performed by Creed on the November 17, 2001, episode of Saturday Night Live, along with the band's next single, "Bullets". The song was played as part of a medley which also included "Don't Stop Dancing" and "Higher" during the bands performance at the halftime show at the 2001 Dallas Cowboys' annual Thanksgiving Day football game on November 22, 2001. "My Sacrifice" was played during the bands December 2, 2001, appearance at the 2001 My VH1 Music Awards and the next day on the December 3, 2001, episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. As part of the Weathered tour, the band played "My Sacrifice" as the closing song during their hour special VH1 "Opening Night Live" performance in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Philips Arena on January 16, 2002, as well during their February 19, 2002, performance at the 2002 Winter Olympics closing ceremony. On September 16, 2014, "My Sacrifice" was made available as downloadable content for the video game Rocksmith 2014, along with "Higher", "My Own Prison", "One Last Breath" and "With Arms Wide Open" as part of the "Creed 5 Song Pack".

+Release dates and formats for "My Sacrifice"RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference)United StatesOctober 16, 2001Mainstream rock, Active rock, active rock radioWind upNovember 5, 2001Other radio formatsAustraliaJanuary 21, 2002CDWind up, Epic Records, EpicUnited KingdomMarch 4, 20027 inch vinyl, CD, cassette