Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland, the former frontman of the bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, has died on tour at the age of 48.
Dave Navarro, guitarist with Jane’s Addiction, tweeted news of his friend’s death on Thursday night (then deleted his tweet) before it was officially announced on Weiland’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages on Friday morning.
“Scott Weiland … passed away in his sleep while on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his band the Wildabouts,” the statement read. “At this time we ask that the privacy of Scott’s family be respected.”
“It’s true,” his wife, photographer Jamie Weiland, said to the LA Times. The couple met in 2011, on one of his music video shoots. The singer’s manager, Tom Vitorino, also confirmed the news to the Associated Press.
Born Scott Kline in Santa Cruz in 1967, he moved to Ohio with his mother and stepfather as a child, before returning to California for high school.
The roots of Stone Temple Pilots lay in the group Mighty Joe Young, formed in 1985 in San Diego. After becoming Stone Temple Pilots they signed to Atlantic Records in 1992. Weiland fronted the group until 2002 and then again from 2008 to 2013, jumping ship in the interim to form the supergroup Velvet Revolver with former members of Guns N’ Roses. He also released four studio albums, a cover album and a live album as a solo artist.
Stone Temple Pilots became hugely successful during the grunge era, with their debut album Core reaching No 3 in the US. They won a Grammy for best hard rock performance in 1994 for their song Plush. Each of the band’s six albums went top 10 in the US.
As a singer Weiland was known for constantly changing his vocal style, either naturally or with a megaphone, while his writing and production sound ranged from hard rock to reggae.
He was married three times and spoke openly about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, checking in and out of rehab several times over the course of his career and often missing live gigs.
The Wildabouts were due to perform in Minnesota on Thursday evening. The concert was cancelled with no reason given, but refunds were issued.
In March, the Wildabouts also lost guitarist Jeremy Brown, who died from drug intoxication, according to the LA county coroner, the day before the band released their debut album, Blaster.
Actor Juliette Lewis and musician Travis Barker were among those musicians paying tribute to Weiland on Twitter on Friday morning.