Editing Puddle of Mudd (section)

===''Come Clean'' (2000–2002)===
Scantlin's big break in the music business came after a copy of his demo tape was delivered to [[Fred Durst]]. Durst contacted Scantlin, and after hearing that his band had broken up, decided to bring him to California to attempt to put a new band together.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} At a 2001 [[Flawless Records]] showcase, Durst noted that he originally disliked the band's material and told Scantlin to fire everyone else in the band and rebuild it from scratch.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-05-16 |title=FLAWLESS STUFF FROM FRED |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/limp-bizkit-136-1389655 |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=[[NME]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>

One of the first people Scantlin met upon arriving in California was [[Doug Ardito]], an intern at [[Interscope Records]]. When Scantlin found out about Ardito's bass playing, they decided to work together. They were still in need of a guitarist and drummer. Fred Durst decided to contact a guitarist he knew from his hometown of [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], Florida, [[Paul Phillips (guitarist)|Paul Phillips]], who had formerly played in a local band there called Happy Hour. After getting the call from Durst, Paul decided to try out for Puddle of Mudd and was accepted, choosing to leave college in order to join. The band held auditions for a new drummer and selected [[Greg Upchurch]], who was an ex-member of [[Eleven (band)|Eleven]] and had also toured with [[Chris Cornell]].

Puddle of Mudd entered the studio in 2000 and released its major-label debut album ''[[Come Clean (Puddle of Mudd album)|Come Clean]]'' on August 28, 2001. The lead single from the album, "[[Control (Puddle of Mudd song)|Control]]" was successful. It was also the theme song for WWE's ''[[Survivor Series (2001)|Survivor Series 2001]],'' which was critically acclaimed. The second single off the album, "[[Blurry]]", co-written with Jimmy Allen and Doug Ardito, turned out to be Puddle of Mudd's most successful single, reaching No. 5 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and No. 8 in the [[UK Singles Chart]], and also winning an [[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|ASCAP]] song of the year award for Ardito, Allen and Scantlin. The song was also used in the game ''[[Ace Combat 5]]'', published by [[Namco]]. "[[Drift & Die (Puddle of Mudd song)|Drift & Die]]" co-written by Jimmy Allen was also released as a single spending six weeks at the No.&nbsp;1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The fourth single, "[[She Hates Me]]" co-written by Jimmy Allen was released in late 2002, and reached the No.&nbsp;1 spot on the [[Mainstream Rock Tracks chart]], as well as No.&nbsp;13 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. Allen and Scantlin won the ASCAP award for most played rock song of the year.<ref name="Billboard.com">{{cite magazine|title=Music News, Reviews, Articles, Information, News Online & Free Music|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=puddle of mudd|chart=all}}|magazine=Billboard.com|access-date=November 23, 2010}}</ref>

The group then embarked on a European and American tour as the opening act for [[Godsmack]] and [[Deftones]], and were also a part of the [[Family Values Tour|Family Values 2001 tour]], alongside [[Linkin Park]], [[Stone Temple Pilots]], and [[Staind]].

The album was certified triple [[Music recording sales certification|platinum]] in the U.S. by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) on January 31, 2003, and as of late 2006, total sales worldwide were in excess of five million copies.