Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean DeLeo had an interview with Yahoo Entertainment along with his bandmates Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz to promote the upcoming reissue of ‘Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop.’ Also, the guitarist revealed that their late lead singer Scott Weiland’s death wasn’t a surprise for them.
It has been known that Stone Temple Pilots released their third studio album entitled ‘Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop’ on March 26, 1996. The album became very popular and got very positive reviews from both the fans and the critics who harshly criticized their early works as a copy of Pearl Jam. So, Stone Temple Pilots received critical acclaim thanks to their third album which was praised for its originality.
Even though the band became very famous and commercially successful, the problems between the band’s lead singer Scott Weiland and the other members of the band continued until they fired Weiland in 2013. Weiland pursued a solo career and joined the tours of different bands. He had been through serious health problems and drug addiction when he was found dead on the tour bus due to drug intoxication on December 3, 2015.
During the interview, Dean DeLeo expressed his sadness about the absence of Weiland while they were talking about the reissue of ‘Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop’ which will be released on July 23, 2021. He also unveiled that it wasn’t impossible to predict the tragic end of Weiland by highlighting that his new friends were after his money. He also added that all of the members of Stone Temple Pilots tried so hard to save him from this dangerous lifestyle.
DeLeo stated in the interview that:
“It was evident — this is so sad to say. He had a new ‘posse’ of people around him. They just kept feeding him all that he was, and they left out one vital part of that — and that was his health and his wellbeing. Because everybody just wanted money. I think Robert, Eric, and I exhausted ourselves just trying to help him and just to be a friend. He wanted no part of that.“
Consequently, Dean DeLeo and all other members of the band deeply knew that Scott Weiland wouldn’t lead a long and healthy life due to his toxic environment. He also stated that he tried to warn him about his new friends as his longtime friend.
