We’ll try to keep this brief, as many of you either heard or saw the news last night about the former Stone Temple Pilots‘ vocalist’s passing. Scott Weiland,

8 years ago

We’ll try to keep this brief, as many of you either heard or saw the news last night about the former Stone Temple Pilots‘ vocalist’s passing.

Scott Weiland, 48, was found dead on his band’s tour bus at around 9pm last night. December 3rd, 2015. His body was found shortly before Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts were meant to perform at the Medina Ballroom in Medina, MN, with the show being cancelled briefly before the performance.

I was alerted to Weiland’s passing via Twitter last night, as Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro had tweeted (now deleted) about the event.

Weiland was a pivotal musician for 90s grunge, with his voice at the front of the movement alongside Nirvana‘s Kurt Cobain, Alice in ChainsLayne Stayley, and Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder. Instantly recognizable and full of emotion, Weiland, as part of Stone Temple Pilots, went on to write and perform hit after hit with the band, including “Interstate Love Song,” “Creep,” “Plush,” “Vasoline,” and countless others across five studio albums and many more releases beyond.

He was removed from Stone Temple Pilots by the other band members in 2013, being replaced by Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington.

Earlier this year in April, I saw this dismal performance of Stone Temple Pilots classic “Vasoline” with Weiland playing with The Wildabouts. The vacant look in his eyes, the way he can’t keep the beat of the song, the monotony of his voice—something was wrong. He swore no drugs were involved, but with a long history of rock’n’roll music and the devil’s candy being intertwined, it was hard to believe him, especially considering his involvement with them in the past.

Unfortunately, while the situation is sad, it was not entirely unexpected. Just perhaps happened sooner than many of us hoped.

Goodbye, Scott Weiland. We’re thankful for what you did for music and all the incredible pieces of art that you had a hand in. You live on in your work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r-KkXhaahs

Kyle Gaddo

Published 8 years ago