Chester Bennington has amicably left Stone Temple Pilots, the band have confirmed.
The announcement comes after former frontman Scott Weiland said in an interview that the split had taken place.
Weiland was dismissed for the second and apparently final time in 2013, then replaced by Bennington on a part-time basis. The new lineup released an EP together, and earlier this year reported they’d been working on an album.
Now STP say: “We have thoroughly enjoyed our time together with Chester, not only professionally, but even more so on a personal level. Sadly, it was evident that scheduling and time was working against us.”
But they add: “Within this, there is a new beginning. There is an abundance of new music written, some of which is already recorded. We have had the fortune of playing with some very talented singers over the last few months and will continue to do so until each of us feels and knows when the right person arrives.”
Bennington says: “The last few years have been an amazing experience. I got to create and perform with one of the greatest rock bands of our generation, that had so much influence on me growing up.
“With the amount of time STP deserves, in addition to being in Linkin Park, and with the needs of my family, one of them always seems to fall short. We decided in due fairness to friends, fans and the legacy of STP that it needs more than time was allowing me.”
He’s vowed to “focus solely” on Linkin Park from now on and adds: “It’s been an amazing experience and a dream come true, and I look forward to the future of both STP and Linkin Park.”
Last week Weiland told Alternative Nation: “He’s not in the band any more. He’s got a band where he gets paid $700,000 a night with. With STP, the brand is kind of falling apart – which is a shame.”
Meanwhile, Noisecreep reports that Highly Suspect frontman Johnny Stevens was asked to become part of the band in August. Stevens tweeted last week: “Straight up, Dean DeLeo called me and asked to join, but I said no. That’s not a joke.”
STP are set to appear on US TV’s Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight (November 9) with Joss Stone fronting them, under the title Joss Stone Temple Pilots.
