According to Rolling Stone, Stone Temple Pilots announced in a single sentence press release which was sent out this morning that they have decided to part ways with front man Scott Weiland. The statement is as follows: “Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland.” This comes upon the heels of an interview that Rolling Stone conducted with Weiland yesterday, in which he stated that “STP has not broken up….I haven’t quit. I haven’t been fired.”
The rumors began swirling around several months ago when Slash (Weiland’s bandmate in Velvet Revolver) said in in interview that STP had, in fact, fired Weiland. In response to that, Weiland said yesterday, “Slash doesn’t know anything about STP. We’re talking right now about when we want to tour next.”
STP are no strangers to controversy, as they have had problems in the past, and broke up for five years to reunite again in 2008. They have been touring consistently since then, but have only released 2010′s Stone Temple Pilots since reuniting, which may also have caused some friction in the band. “My personal feeling is that we need some new blood in the band,” Weiland stated. “We’ve been playing the same greatest hits set since we got back together. I’d like to make a new record. It will breathe new life into the group.”
At a recent solo show at the Highline Ballroom, Weiland and his backing band played only two STP songs, to fans chagrin. He acknowledged the fact that those who came for an STP greatest hits set were going to be disappointed, but that sometimes as a musician you have to play new and different to keep things going. This could very well have been in reference to what has apparently been going on in Stone Temple Pilots over the last several months.
Weiland went on to say that while the band has been going through a difficult period, “No one has ever fired anybody in STP. We’re like a family. It’s also a partnership. I started the band. We’ve always kept things going. We’ve taken time off before. They’ve done their own projects and I fully support that. No one has been fired and I haven’t quit. That’s all hearsay.”
Well, it looks like Dean and Rob DeLeo and Eric Kretz beg to differ with that statement. It will be interesting to see what Weiland’s response is to this latest news of him being “officially” fired from STP. Stay tuned to L4LM as more details surface.