Scott Weiland, the former lead singer of a number of rock bands, including Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, died in his sleep Thursday night. He was 48.
A message on Weiland’s official Facebook page said he had died in Bloomington, Minn. while on tour a tour stop with his latest band, Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts. The Associated Press reported the band was scheduled to play a concert in nearby Medina Thursday. The venue’s website showed the concert had been canceled.
Weiland’s manager, Tom Vitorino, told the Associated Press he had learned of Weiland’s death from the singer’s tour manager, but did not provide further details.
TMZ obtained an audio tape of first responders reporting to the scene of Weiland’s death. In the tape, the first responders state Weiland was dead upon their arrival.
Weiland fronted one of the most successful grunge bands of the 1990s in Stone Temple Pilots, but was also dogged by problems with substance abuse throughout his career.
Stone Temple Pilots’ 1992 debut, Core, has sold more than 8 million units in the United States. Their hits include Vasoline, Interstate Love Song and Plush, which won a Grammy in 1993 for best hard rock performance with vocal.
Amid the successes, Weiland had a long string of drug and alcohol related arrests and stints in rehab. In 1995, he was arrested after deputies found him carrying crack and heroin. He pleaded guilty to felony heroin possession in 1998. And his arrests for drug possession and stints in rehab led the Stone Temple Pilots to cancel tour dates and contributed to their 2003 breakup.
After the band split, Weiland joined former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum and former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner to form the supergroup Velvet Revolver. Weiland departed Velvet Revolver in 2008 to join the reunited Stone Temple Pilots.
“The story’s not finished,” Weiland told The Associated Press at the time. “There’s more to be revealed and more to be told.”
But in February 2013, Stone Temple Pilots announced on its website that Weiland had been fired from the band. In a statement to FOX411 at the time, Weiland said, “Not sure how I can be ‘terminated’ from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that’s something for the lawyers to figure out.”
In 2011, Weiland released his autobiography,Not Dead & Not For Sale. The title was taken from the lyrics of Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart, one of Stone Temple Pilots’ best-known songs.
additional source: foxnews.com
29 Responses
when you use hard drugs like scott did for so many years it has a way of catching up with you , even if he had been clean for awhile his heart likely was damaged from years of drug abuse and just gave out – it is very sad for his family and his friends , addiction to opiates is one helluva monkey, throw in coke and it’s a nightmare waiting to happen – and unless you have great insurance or have money, getting access to good care to kick is very hard – scott most likely had both again so sad – he was a very talented guy and will be missed.
It’s a sad day(Dec 4th). Unfortunately, because of Scott’s demons i was afraid this day would come. wether he was clean and his heart just gave out, or he was still using, it sucks , another legend gone. Being a diehard hard rock/metalhead, I too hated the grunge scene, with the exception of STP, AIC and Soundgarden. I wasn’t a fan of the look(mainly the flannel) it just wasn’t cool to me, but their music kicked my ass, especially AIC. I’m not devastated(like i was when Layne) died because , like i said, i almost expected it to happen to Scott, probably because i didn’t expect it to happen to Layne. So R.I.P. Weiland, your voice will be missed, but at least will live on through the art you created.
art is such a funny thing,some of the best work,esp musically,has come out of folks that are really troubled for what ever reason,your music comes from you soul,and that work is usually some of our best loved tunes,when folks try to write just to write,you can usually tell,its not that good,but the price the artists pay sometimes is very tragic,i guess you cant have it both ways,rest in peace scott!!!!!
Been jamming Scotts xmas album ” the most wonderful time of the year ” on the ipod. Good stuff for a xmas album,