Stone Temple Pilots is a rock band formed in 1981 and originally consisted of Scott Weiland, Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo, and Eric Kretz. The band rose to fame as part of the grunge scene of the early 1990s. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, they experienced commercial highs and lows partly due to Weiland’s struggles with his drug addiction.
Their lineup remained unchanged until Weiland was fired from the band in 2013 and Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington was hired as a replacement in May 2013. However, Bennington left in November 2015 to focus on his career in Linkin Park. While many commented on this change, fans were also curious to find out if this affected Weiland’s relationship with Bennington.
Scott Weiland’s Departure And Chester Bennington’s Recruitment
Back in the early 2000s, Stone Temple Pilots was dissolved, and Weiland joined Velvet Revolver. In 2008, Weiland decided to leave Velvet Revolver and rejoin STP. Apart from working with the band, he also focused on his solo efforts and released two solo albums. So, things were going pretty well for the band until tensions arose.
After a tour in 2010, STP started to experience inner conflicts as the bandmembers thought that Weiland’s vocals were getting bad. After a disastrous show on September 17 that frustrated many fans, the tensions between the bandmates started building up.
On February 27, 2013, Stone Temple Pilots fired Weiland, and he started touring with his solo band. The band and Weiland issued lawsuits over the right of using the name Stone Temple Pilots, and the DeLeo brothers and Kretz retained the rights. On May 18, 2013, the band’s remaining members performed with Chester Bennington at the 21st Annual KROQ Weenie Roast.
During the show, they performed a new song titled ‘Out Of Time.’ After releasing the new single ‘Out Of Time’ on May 19, 2013, Stone Temple Pilots announced Bennington as an official band member. Although he was close friends with Bennington, it seems this didn’t make Scott Weiland feel betrayed by the singer.
Scott Weiland Didn’t Feel Betrayed By His Fellow Musician Chester Bennington
In an interview with Billboard, Scott Weiland revealed his thoughts on Stone Temple Pilots’ decision to recruit Chester Bennington as his replacement. He said that he and Bennington were good friends, but he doesn’t see this move as an act of betrayal. Weiland then said he has known Chester for a long time, and they were really close on the Family Values tour.
After saying he doesn’t think Bennington did such a thing in a spiteful way, Weiland implied the DeLeo brothers persuaded him to join the band. Following that, the singer argued it was not a smart decision, and they did this without checking if it was legal. As Scott said, they decided to perform under the name Stone Temple Pilots, which he owns, by just hiring another singer.
Scott Weiland told Billboard in the interview that:
“I’ve known Chester for a long time. I got to be pretty close with him on the 2001 Family Values tour. I don’t think Chester did it in a spiteful way. The brothers DeLeo, they can be pretty persuasive… I guess nothing is totally shocking, but… I don’t think it was smart for them to do that.
I’m surprised they did what they did without checking the legality of it, how they just decided to go and use the Stone Temple Pilots name and go and hire another singer and start playing shows with a name that I still am an owner of.”
Chester Bennington’s tenure in Stone Temple Pilots spanned only two years. Two years after he left the band to focus on his career with Linkin Park, on July 20, 2017, he committed suicide. Sadly, Weiland shared the same fate with Bennington as he also overdosed on pills, alcohol, and drugs on December 3, 2015.
