Scott Weiland, Formerly Of Stone Temple Pilots, Dead At 48

Scott Weiland, the former lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, has died suddenly at the age of 48 while on tour.

The sad news was announced on Friday morning (December 4th) via Weiland’s social media pages, although his friend, Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, briefly tweeted then deleted the news the night before.

Former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland has died at the age of 48

“Scott Weiland… passed away in his sleep while on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his band the Wildabouts,” the statement read. “At this time we ask that the privacy of Scott’s family be respected.” His wife, Jamie Weiland, whom he married in 2011, confirmed the news to the L.A. Times later.

TMZ reported that Weiland’s body was discovered on the group’s tour bus, which was parked outside a motel near where the group was due to play on Thursday night.

More: Scott Weiland was not arrested! Man pretends to be former Stone Temple Pilots frontman and tricks police

Stone Temple Pilots gained nationwide and international attention during the grunge era in America, with their first album Core going Top 3 in the Billboard charts, with a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1994 for ‘Plush’. All six of their albums enjoyed Top Ten success in the States as well.

After the Pilots’ disintegration in 2003, Weiland joined the rock supergroup Velvet Revolver as singer, alongside former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum and Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner. They recorded two albums in the mid-noughties.

However, Weiland struggled openly with addiction to drugs and alcohol, checking in and out of rehab centres on several occasions throughout his career and often missing live dates.

He leaves behind his wife Jamie and two teenage children, Noah and Lucy, from his previous marriage to model Mary Forsberg.

It’s the second tragedy for the Wildabouts in 2015, as their guitarist Jeremy Brown died from drug intoxication in March, the day before the group released its debut album Blaster.

More: “No one told me” – Scott Weiland responds after getting fired by Stone Temple Pilots