Former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver rocker Scott Weiland has been found dead. The 48 year old’s body was discovered on his tour bus on Thursday.
The news was confirmed in a post on Weiland’s Facebook.com page, which read: “Scott Weiland, best known as the lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, passed away in his sleep while on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his band The Wildabouts. At this time we ask that the privacy of Scott’s family be respected.”
Guitarist Dave Navarro was among the first to respond to the news, tweeting, “Our friend Scott Weiland has died.” He has since deleted the post.
Weiland and his band the Wildabouts are currently on tour and were scheduled to perform in Nevada and California later this month.
Details of the rock star’s death are hazy, but he struggled with substance abuse issues throughout much of his career.
Weiland co-founded Stone Temple Pilots in the early 1990s and enjoyed hit albums such as Core and Purple and singles like Vasoline and Interstate Love Song. In 2002, he was recruited as the frontman for rock supergroup Velvet Revolver, formed by ex-Guns N’ Roses stars Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. The band released the albums Contraband and Libertad, before Weiland was fired in 2008 following a series of substance abuse issues and a public falling out with his bandmates.
Tributes from many in the music world have been pouring in.
Slash posted on Instagram to remember Weiland following news of his death. He shared a picture of the singer performing onstage and wrote, “Sad day. RIP Scott Weiland.”
Velvet Revolver’s bassist Dave Kushner added, “RIP Scott Weiland.”
Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx, who wrote, “Sad to hear about Scott’s passing. I hope it wasn’t drugs.The saddest part of the story is his kids and family being left behind. RIP”
Tommy Lee posted, “Scott Weiland was just found dead on his tour bus… Very sad.”
Alice Cooper tweeted, “Deeply saddened by the passing of singer #ScottWeiland. What a voice we’ve lost. Thoughts and prayers to his family,”
Tom Morello posted, “RIP Scott Weiland. May you be at peace and thank you for your music, Scott”.
Good Charlotte star Joel Madden posted, “RIP Scott, Music is crying tonight”.
