Scott Weiland dead at 48

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 in Minnesota on Thursday night (03Dec15), prior to a performance with his band The Wildabouts. The show was cancelled without explanation, and fans were offered refunds.

The sad 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. So gutted, I am thinking of his family tonight." 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 (Dec15).

Details of the rock star's death are hazy, but he struggled with substance abuse issues throughout much of his career.

He 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, Weiland 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.



He rejoined the group for a charity show in 2012, and he recently told Alternative Nation there were plans for a full reunion that were scuppered by Slash's then-wife Perla Hudson.

"We did a show together, and there was talk about us getting back together," Weiland said, "but Perla, Slash's ex-wife, kind of put the kibosh on everything... I thought, at the time, we would get back together and do a tour."

Tributes have started hitting social media, with former Nirvana star Krist Novoselic tweeting, "Really sorry to hear about Scott Weiland", and Ryan Adams wrote, "RIP Scott Weiland Universe, please take care of him."

Stars such as No Doubt's Tony Kanal, Blink-182 star Travis Barker, actress/rocker Juliette Lewis, Vanilla Ice and Joe Perry also offered up thoughts and prayers, with the Aerosmith guitarist tweeting, "Extremely saddened to have read Scott Weiland passed. Such a gifted performer. My thoughts are with your loved ones, friends & fans."

Weiland's wife Jamie also confirmed the tragic news in a brief conversation with the Los Angeles Times, telling the publication, "I can't deal with this right now. It's true."

The couple wed in 2013, two years after meeting on the set of the rock star's music video to accompany his festive song I'll Be Home For Christmas.

Weiland was born Scott Richard Kline on 27 October, 1967 in San Jose, California. His name was changed to Weiland after he was adopted by his stepfather, David Weiland, when he was five.

He was married three times - his first wife was Janina Castaneda, his second - and the mother of his two children, Noah and Lucy, was model Mary Forsberg. She filed for divorce from the rocker after he was arrested on domestic violence charges in Las Vegas in 2001. The charges were deferred after the couple reconciled and agreed to undergo counselling.

Weiland's autobiography, Not Dead & Not for Sale, was released in 2011.



(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

Scott Weiland, best known as the lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, passed away in his sleep while...