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Artist News Obituaries
Scott Weiland 1967-2015
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 7 December 2015
Former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland died last week, while on tour with new band The Wildabouts in Minnesota. He was 48.
Born Scott Kilne in 1967, he took the surname of his step-father aged five when his mother remarried, following his parents’ divorce when he was two.
In 1986, he formed Stone Temple Pilots with bassist Robert DeLeo, the band eventually releasing their debut album, ‘Core’, in 1992. Although dismissed by many critics as copying grunge bands like Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains, the album was a hit with fans and has gone on to sell over eight million copies. Second album ‘Purple’ was also a success, and began to win over the critics.
After the band split in 2002, while touring fifth album ‘Shangri-La Dee Da’, Weiland joined former Guns N Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, plus guitarist Dave Kushner, to form Velvet Revolver.
The band released their debut album, ‘Contraband’, in 2004, which went to number one in the US. They then released a second album, ‘Libertad’, in 2007, which was less successful both critically and commercially. Weiland was then fired the following year, his bandmates accusing him of displaying “increasingly erratic behaviour onstage”.
Weiland struggled with drug and alcohol problems throughout his career, with numerous arrests leading to stints in both prison and rehab. Although some had raised questions about recent performances, both Weiland and his third wife Jamie had said that he had beaten his addictions in recent years.
Following his departure from Velvet Revolver, Weiland re-united with Stone Temple Pilots, releasing their sixth album in 2010. Though tensions arose again, and Weiland was fired in 2013 – sparking a bitter legal dispute when the band replaced him with Chester Bennington from Linkin Park.
Weiland also released four solo albums during his career, the most recent, ‘Blaster’, in March this year, as Scott Weiland And The Wildabouts. It was while touring this album that Weiland was found dead on the band’s tour bus before a planned show at the Medina Entertainment Center.
Weiland had two children from his second marriage, Lucy and Noah.
