Stone Temple Pilots’ Scott Weiland died at 48

Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland (Photo taken from Weiland’s official Facebook fan page)

The former frontman of rock bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, Scott Weiland, was confirmed dead on his Facebook fan page post early Friday morning.

The 48-year-old vocalist was well-known lead singer of the Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. According to Weiland’s Facebook fan page, he passed away during his sleep on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his current band The Wildabouts. The post also indicated that Scott’s family needs privacy by this time and should be respected.

Scott Weiland and his current band The Wildabouts were on tour this month at Reno, NV on Dec. 18 and City Winery in Napa on Dec. 19.

The Bloomington, Minn. Police Department issued a statement at 11:15 p.m. PT indicating that on Dec. 3rd at 8:22 p.m. officers responded to a report of an unresponsive adult male in a recreational motor vehicle located at Kilebrew Drive. The officers arrived and the adult male was deceased, but did not identify the decease.

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s and Medical Examiner’s Office will continue the investigation regarding Weiland’s death with updates to come.

He turned 48 on Oct. 27, but suffered from substance abuse issues.

After the Stone Temple Pilots reached their peak of their popularity, the band took their break that made Weiland participate in several side projects.

In the years passed, the Stone Temple Pilots carry on various incarnations. Recently, the group recruited Linkin Park’s singer Chester Bennington to be the STP’s frontman duties. Weiland announced his exit from the group on Nov. 9.

In 2002, Weiland joined Guns N’ Roses members Slash (guitars), Duff McKagan (bass), and Matt Sorum (drums) and formed the Velvet Revolver.  Their first album Contraband was released in June 2004, Libertad in 2007, which was the last feature of Weiland as the band’s vocals.

According to Billboard.com, Weiland weathered several public run-ins with the law, mostly due to drug use and driving under the influence. In 1995, the singer was convicted of buying crack cocaine and sentenced to probation. In 2003 and 2007 Weiland was arrested for D.U.I. Heroin was also a drug of choice for Weiland, who had check into a rehabilitation facility but did not finish the program, according to reports around 2007.