Mark Tremonti Names Song That Made Him Want to Play Guitar

What was the album and song that made Mark Tremonti want to pick up the guitar? It’s probably one that you’re not expecting, but during an appearance on the Mark and Me podcast, Tremonti revealed the early ’80s album and song that started his desire to play guitar for a living.

What Album + Song Inspired Mark Tremonti to Play Guitar?

These days, Mark Tremonti has carved out a successful career playing with Creed, Alter Bridge and fronting his self-titled Tremonti band. But like all musicians, it had to start somewhere. So what was the initial spark for Tremonti?

“The very first album I bought was the J. Geils Band‘s Love Stinks album,” admits the guitarist.

“I loved it because every time I heard a song where the band would just drop out and it would be a guitar hammering power chords, it was just something the drew me [in],” says of the hit title track from the record. “I wanted to buy a guitar, I wanted to learn how to play a guitar and that J. Geils Band ‘Love Stinks’ title track did it for me.”

The Love Stinks album peaked at No. 18 in the U.S., while the title track spent three weeks in the Top 40 topping out at No. 38. But it has gone on to become one of J. Geils Band’s most recognizable songs and an ’80s era staple for many music fans.

J. Geils Band, “Love Stinks”

The Impact of That First Record

As Tremonti tells it, that particular moment in “Love Stinks” where the band drops out and the power chords remain is something he also sought out in other music as well.

“Every time I heard a song do that, I was so drawn to it. Even before when I was a little kid, hearing Rick Springfield, and you have your parents listening to Rick Springfield and you have a song like ‘Human Touch’ drop in the guitar. Or Boston. Every time that would happen, I was just drawn to it.”

Rick Springfield, “Human Touch”

Mark Tremonti’s Journey to Guitar

Though he had a passion for it, Mark Tremonti’s desire to play guitar didn’t get fulfilled right away.

“I remember I had an older friend whose brother was a metalhead and listened to a bunch of punk stuff too, a bunch of Black Flag and Minor Threat. And whatever he was listening to in his bedroom, he’d be playing his guitar along to it, and I asked my friend, ‘You think your brother would let me see his guitar?’ And he was like, ‘No, my brother will kick your ass if you touch his guitar.’ And that made me even more drawn to it,” the guitarist recalled.

Requests to his parents to get him a guitar also went unanswered. But he eventually got his hands on a guitar when a friend at school was upgrading his instrument and sold him his old guitar for $10.

Within the chat, Tremonti revealed several key moments that led him down the path to a music career. They included catching a pick from Ace Frehley at his first concert when Frehley was opening for Iron Maiden and later in college signing up to be local crew for an Ozzy Osbourne show.

“It gave me more of the drive I already had,” said Tremonti of his crew experience for Ozzy. “I wanted to be on that tour bus and drive around the world doing what I love to do.”

Mark Tremonti in 2024 and 2025

Having spent the year touring as part of Creed’s reunion, Tremonti will kick off the new year by releasing his Tremonti band solo set The End Will Show Us How on Jan. 10. Pre-orders are being taken at his website, where you can also get touring and concert ticket info.

READ MORE: Creed’s Mark Tremonti Reflects on 25 Years of ‘Human Clay’

Creed, meanwhile, have a few shows before the year concludes and an appearance at the Stagecoach Festival already booked for 2025. The group also confirmed a second year of the “Summer of ’99” cruise would be taking place next year.

Alter Bridge recently issued a 20th anniversary edition of their debut album One Day Remains that is currently available through their website.