When Creed last headlined New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2000, the rockers were riding high after releasing their 1999 blockbuster, “Human Clay.”

But frontman Scott Stapp played the big daddy of all arenas and had a different kind of fatherly feeling.

“I brought my son Jagger with me, and I will never forget bringing him on stage as a little boy,” Stapp, 51, told The Post. “And you know, the whole ‘If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere’ thing…. I was allowed to share that memory with my son.”

Twenty-four years after that father-son moment, Stapp and Creed finally return to the Garden on their “Are You Ready?” reunion tour showing Friday evening at MSG.

And the singer rocks like grandpa this time. “Now (Jagger is) 26 years old and married, and I have a grandson, Cash, and another grandson, Colt, who is about to be born,” Stapp said. “And so it’s crazy how time flies.”

Undoubtedly, a lot has changed for Stapp – and Creed – since then. But as this tour celebrates the 25th anniversary of ‘Human Clay’ – a monster album that went diamond with more than 11.5 million sales in the US thanks to the hit singles ‘Higher’ and the No. 1 hit ‘With Arms Wide Open’ – the band is back on the biggest stages.

“It’s a full-circle moment, you know?” Stapp said. “And so it’s definitely a surreal experience. And it will be an evening you will never forget.”

After the success of Creed’s 1997 debut ‘My Own Prison’ – which went six times platinum – the band hardly had to worry about a sophomore crisis with ‘Human Clay’.

“We didn’t have time to think about that,” says Stapp. “The success happened so quickly with ‘My Own Prison’ (that) we literally went from clubs to arenas in 18 months. And during that period we didn’t have enough material to play a headlining set, and so we were feverishly just writing songs on tour.

‘Human Clay’ was born from the ‘write-or-die desperation on the road’. “We were writing songs at sound check and in hotel rooms,” Stapp said of his songwriting with Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti.

“I have specific memories of being inspired, writing, and then running to Mark’s room and saying, ‘Hey man, let’s do this.’ And then literally debuting in front of a big audience for the first time, just because we needed a longer set time.”

One of those songs was ‘Higher’ – the lead single from ‘Human Clay’ – which became Creed’s first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Stapp’s exploration of lucid dreaming turned into real inspiration during a freestyle session one evening. .

“I kind of threw the band for a loop,” he said, “but Mark kind of rolled with me and started playing something, and the chorus for ‘Higher’ just came out live on stage.”

The Grammy-winning “With Arms Wide Open” was born as Stapp processed the news of becoming a new father. “I had found out just before a club show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in early 1998, that I was going to be a father for the first time,” he recalled. “I went in to tell the band, and I heard Mark fiddling with his guitar.

“And I said, ‘Dude, just keep playing that over and over again.’ And it was the guitar intro to ‘With Arms Wide Open.’ And I stepped up to the microphone during soundcheck and just started singing what was in my heart.

But after scoring another multiplatinum album with 2001’s ‘Weathered’ – which featured the hit ‘My Sacrifice’ – Creed split in 2004. Stapp continued to pursue a solo career, starting with 2005’s “The Great Divide,” but also struggled with mental health. problems during the fight against alcohol addiction.

“Addiction and alcoholism can also have some side effects, if you will, that can manifest as depression,” Stapp said. “And we were all so young, we didn’t really understand the factors that created this scenario.

“It’s very easy for young artists, if you play every night, if you have a quick turnout, and every night is a party for the audience… that can change in how you are offstage as well. It can have serious consequences if it continues and becomes something consistent.”

Now that he’s been sober for a decade, Stapp hopes he can be “a kind of light for younger artists when they need help navigating success and how to take care of yourself.”

And he’s encouraged by the change he’s seen in the industry – and beyond. “It seems that today we live in a society and world where artists are given much more grace, understanding and compassion than they were 25 years ago,” Stapp said. “I’m glad that today artists are looked at, cared for and understood a little better than they were back then, and that the stigma around these issues has disappeared.”

Stapp – who also released a new solo album, ‘Higher Power’, earlier this year – brings his healthier outlook and perspective to the Creed reunion tour.

“This doesn’t sound very sexy in terms of rock ‘n’ roll, but I’m here working and I have work to do,” said the singer, who has three other children with his second wife. former Miss New York USA Jaclyn Nesheiwat. (They announced their plan to divorce earlier this year after 18 years of marriage.)

“My job is to deliver this music and a performance to these fans that they expect and that meets my standards. And I can’t do that when I’m partying and partaking in all the trappings that surround the entertainment world.”

Indeed, Stapp has a new, wiser appreciation for the fans – old and young – who he will continue to embrace with wide open arms as the reunion tour reaches MSG.

“The great thing about what’s going on with Creed today is that we’re getting to experience it all again at the same level we ended up at when the band went on hiatus in 2004 – but with all this knowledge, experience and understanding of how special and fortunately we were in the late 1990s, early 2000s,” he said.

“It’s incredible to be able to experience this now with the depth of appreciation, gratitude and humility that we didn’t have 25 years ago.”