Remembering Scott Weiland
Scott Richard Kline was born October 27, 1967 in San Jose, California. His biological father was Richard Kline, an actor famous for his role as Larry Dallas on Three’s Company. At age 5, his stepfather, Claude Weiland adopted the boy and Scott took his last name.
In 1986, Weiland met bassist Robert DeLeo at an Englebert Humperdinck concert in Long Beach, California. The two of them were discussing their love interests, when they realized they were both dating the same girl. They developed a bond over the incident, and ended up moving into her vacated apartment. Her body was never found.
They took the name Stone Temple Pilots because of their fondness for the initials “STP.” Some other rejected band name ideas included: “Shirley Temple’s P*$$y”, “Smelly Taint Poles”, “Scott Toilet Paper” & “Steven Tyler’s Penis”. We think they made the right choice.
In 1992, STP released their first album, Core, spawning four hits (“Sex Type Thing,” “Wicked Garden,” “Creep,” and “Plush.”) STP went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s, selling more than 18 million albums in the United States and 40 million worldwide.
All good things come to an end and just like an episode of “Behind the Music”, STP went down in flames and Weiland released solo music and formed the supergroup, “Velvet Revolver”. Former Guns N’ Roses members – guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum – as well as former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner were looking for a singer to help form a new band. Throughout his career Weiland had become acquainted with the four musicians; he became friends with McKagan after attending the same gym, was in rehab at the same time as Sorum and once was in the same drunk tank as Kushner.
Weiland was known for his flamboyant and chaotic onstage persona; he was also known for constantly changing his appearance and vocal style. He is considered by many to be a talented and versatile singer and frontman. Unfortunately, he battled with addictions and passed away in 2015.
