Tributes have poured in for former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland, who last night died at the age of 48.
Weiland was found dead in his tour bus in Bloomington, Minnesota, where he was on tour with his band Scott Weiland And The Wildabouts. The cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
Former Velvet Revolver bandmate Slash was among the first to react, saying on Instagram: “Sad day. RIP Scott Weiland.” Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy praised Weiland’s songwriting skills, saying: “Very sorry to hear about Scott Weiland. He was a captivating frontman who had a gift for writing great melodies.”
Supergroup Art Of Anarchy, for whom Weiland recorded vocals for their debut album this year, say: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Scott Weiland. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and fans at this tragic time.”
Weiland formed STP with brothers Dean and Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz in 1989 under the name Mighty Joe Young. Their 1992 debut album Core was a huge hit and set STP up to be one of the most commercially successful acts of the 1990s.
The singer’s long-running battle with drug addiction eventually led to his dismissal from the group and he later teamed up with Dave Kushner and former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum in supergroup Velvet Revolver in 2002.
More success followed as VR’s 2004 debut album Contraband debuted as no.1 on the Billboard chart and lead single Slither won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.
He returned to STP in 2008 for a second spell that ended in 2013. The Wildabouts released their debut album Blaster earlier this year and in one of the last interviews he gave before his death, Weiland said he was finding life on the road difficult as he missed his family.
In May, he insisted he hadn’t “done heroin in 13 years” after Filter singer Richard Patrick said Weiland’s fans were his biggest enablers when it came to drug abuse.
