30 Years Ago, a Grammy-Winning Grunge Band Quit Touring at the Height of Their Fame Due to Singer’s Ongoing Struggles
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30 Years Ago, a Grammy-Winning Grunge Band Quit Touring at the Height of Their Fame Due to Singer’s Ongoing Struggles
Prior to 1996, Scott Weiland’s substance abuse had not been public knowledge.
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On April 24, 1996, Stone Temple Pilots had been in an exhausting predicament for several years when they canceled their 1996-97 tour. In a public announcement, bassist Robert DeLeo admitted that frontman Scott Weiland was “under doctors’ care in a medical facility.”
Weiland’s drug addiction had him in and out of rehab for years before his death in 2015. He struggled primarily with heroin use, then alcohol and cocaine near the end of his life. After his death, his former Stone Temple Pilots bandmates described him as “gifted beyond words.” Unfortunately, substance abuse, mental health issues, and loss were “part of [his] curse.”
But despite Stone Temple Pilots’ success, kicked off by the 1992 single “Plush”, Weiland found himself continually hitting rock bottom. Notably, in May 1995, he was arrested for drug possession. After his wife bailed him out, he holed up in L.A.’s Chateau Marmont. Courtney Love was staying in the room next door, and the next evening, Love called L.A. radio station KROQ and read an apology letter Weiland penned to his wife, bandmates, and their fans.
“It was a major low point,” Weiland told........
