1992-Scott WeilandVocals1992-2013
Dean DeLeoGuitar
Robert DeLeoBass
Eric KretzDrums
Chester BenningtonVocals2013-2015
Jeffrey Adam GuttVocals2016-
Weiland spent five months in jail in 1999 for violating probation after a heroin conviction. He was arrested on drug charges again in 2003 and served six months of rehab.
Weiland was diagnosed with manic-depressive disorder. He would often refuse to take medication for it and had lots of mood swings as a result.
The band are big supporters of the 2001 movie and off-Broadway play Hedwig And The Angry Itch. It is about a German boy who gets a botched sex-change operation, moves to a Kansas trailer park, and starts a band called Hedwig. STP has dressed up and performed as Hedwig on a few occasions.
The band originally went by STP, but got into some legal trouble from using the name (STP is a brand of engine treatment). They came up with three words to use instead, which at first were Shirley Temple's P--sy. They eventually changed it to Stone Temple Pilots.
In 1997, while Scott Weiland was having legal problems stemming from his drug addiction, the other three members formed a side band called Talk Show with former Ten Inch Men singer David Coutts. They released their self-titled album in 1997. Coutts was fired from Talk Show in March of 1998, and the band never released another album.
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Suggestion credit:
Anthony - Arab, AL, for above 2
In 2004, Weiland joined Velvet Revolver with Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. He left and returned to STP in 2008.
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Suggestion credit:
Dave - Dublin, Ireland
Stone Temple Pilots were voted both Best New Band (by readers) and Worst New Band (by critics) in Rolling Stone's 1994 music awards.
The band formed as Mighty Joe Young, with Robert DeLeo, Weiland,
Kretz and a guitarist named Corey Hickok, who was later replaced by Robert's brother, Dean. They had to talk Dean into coming back to the music scene, since he had stopped playing and was focused on business ventures. They changed their name when they found out there was a blues singer who went by Mighty Joe Young.
Describing his cocaine-fueled hallucinations in his book Not Dead & Not For Sale, Weiland says: "There were actual forms facing me, the faces of skeletons."
Scott Weiland was fired by the band in 2013 on February 27, 2013. Weiland responded to the firing with his own statement, "I learned of my supposed 'termination' from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press. 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."
On May 18, 2013 the remaining members of Stone Temple Pilots performed together for the first time since firing Scott Weiland, appearing as special guests at the 21st Annual KROQ Weenie Roast, benefiting Heal the Bay. Linkn Park's Chester Bennington was the replacement vocalist. Bennington said of the union, "I've loved STP since I was 13 years old and they've had a huge influence on me. When the opportunity came up to do something creative with them, I jumped at the chance."
The cover of their second album, Purple, shows a baby riding a dragon in the sky while some angelic figures look on. It is based on the artwork from a package of China White heroin that Weiland scored in Los Angeles.
On their Shangri-La Dee Da tour, the band was in such dysfunction that they brought along a "sober coach" to keep them focused. He came in handy after one show when he stepped in to prevent a fight between Weiland and Dean DeLeo.
