Scott Weiland Biography

Summary

"Scott Weiland" (born October 27 1967) is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist. He was the lead singer of the popular rock band Stone Temple Pilots throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. He is currently the lead singer of Velvet Revolver.

Biography

Weiland was born as "Scott Richard Kline" in Santa Cruz, California, USA, North America. Weiland moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio at the age of five where he attended the Kenston School District. Weiland dropped out of school during his freshman year of high school and moved back to California.

Stone Temple Pilots (Late 1980s-1997)

In 1986 Weiland met bassist Robert DeLeo at a Black Flag concert, and shortly thereafter formed the band Mighty Joe Young with DeLeo's brother Dean on guitar and Eric Kretz on drums and recorded a demo tape in 1990. The band changed its name to Stone Temple Pilots when it was discovered shortly after signing with Atlantic Records that 'Mighty Joe Young' was already taken.

Weiland wrote the band's lyrics and performed lead vocals. In 1992, they released their first album, "Core", and their first hit, 'Sex Type Thing' led to them becoming one of the most commercially successful bands of the grunge movement, the music genre that was spawned out of Seattle in the late eighties and became rock's central movement of the early-mid 1990s. The band was widely accused of copying bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana in an attempt to cash in on the scene's burgeoning popularity. Critics also pointed out that Weiland's vocal style at the time was very similar to that of Layne Staley's and Eddie Vedder's. Weiland has rejected such comparisons, however, citing Jim Morrison of The Doors as more influential on his sound.

In 1994, Weiland married Janina Castaneda and STP released their second album, "Purple", which saw the development of a more distinctive identity for the band. While still a clear continuation of their previous sound, the album featured fewer dark 'grunge' tracks, and had a mixture of Punk, bossa nova, and acoustic songs. The year prior, STP toured with the Butthole Surfers, and Weiland developed a drug addiction, claiming Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes introduced him to heroin.

In 1995, Weiland was caught and convicted of buying crack cocaine. He was sentenced to one year's probation. Issues with drug use did not clear up after his sentence. Weiland claimed that he moved into a hotel with Courtney Love where the two for a month, 'shot drugs the whole time'. STP canceled most of their 1996-1997 tour in support of their third release, "Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" causing the album to fall flat quickly on the charts.

"12 Bar Blues"

With Weiland's status in the band uncertain and unpredictable, STP went on hiatus. The other members of the band created the group Talk Show with lead singer Dave Coutts. Weiland, meanwhile, adopted an androgynous look and released a solo album in 1998 called "12 Bar Blues". Weiland wrote most of the songs on the album, and collaborated with several artists, notably Daniel Lanois, Sheryl Crow and Jeff Nolan. The album was a commercial failure but it managed to achieve some acclaim . It was also during this time that Weiland was caught in Manhattan buying heroin, ending his brief tour. A previous conviction in Los Angeles, coupled with numerous probation violations, earned Weiland jail time.

The constant relapses were too much for his marriage, and Castaneda filed for divorce.

Back with STP (1999-2003)

His period in jail had apparently helped to wean him from his habit, and once released, he rejoined Stone Temple Pilots. Soon after, he married Mary Forsberg, with whom he has two children, Noah and Lucy.

In 1999, the band released "No. 4". The album contained the hit single 'Sour Girl' which featured a strange, surreal music video with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

In November 2001, Weiland was invited to perform on the show VH1 Storytellers with the surviving members of The Doors. Weiland did vocals on two Doors songs, 'Break on Through (To the Other Side)' and 'Five To One.' That same month Stone Temple Pilots appeared on The Doors tribute CD, "Stoned Immaculate" with their own rendition of 'Break On Through' as the lead track.

In late 2001, Weiland was arrested on domestic violence charges in Las Vegas, apparently for shoving Forsberg. However, the charges were eventually deferred upon the couple agreeing to counseling. Soon after, Forsberg filed for divorce but the couple eventually reconciled. Weiland's career also took a hit, with an altercation between Weiland and Dean DeLeo on the final gig of STP's "Shangri-La Dee Da" tour, leading to the band's official demise with much of the speculation surrounding Weiland's inability to balance personal issues.

Velvet Revolver (2003-present)

After the breakup of STP, Weiland was arrested on his birthday on October 27 2003 in Hollywood, California after a traffic collision. He was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. His charges were eventually dismissed after he successfully completed rehab and subsequent drug tests.

Around this time, Weiland was asked (by Duff McKagan at the Whole Foods Market in west hollywood) to lead a band with former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, as well as Dave Kushner. The band used the working title 'The Project', later becoming 'Velvet Revolver'.

Velvet Revolver's debut album "Contraband" was released in June 2004 to much success. It debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 and has sold over three million copies world-wide to date. Two of the album's songs, 'Slither' and 'Fall to Pieces', reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song 'Slither' also won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal in 2005.

The band released their second album, "Libertad", on July 3 2007. The album sold a little under 100,000 copies during its first week and has sold over 230,000 copies as of September 2007, which fell short of expectations in failing to even meet the first week sales of "Contraband".

Trivia

He is a member of the cover band Camp Freddy.

Weiland is known to constantly change his appearance, especially his hairstyle and hair color. However, he is recognized by many for his famously low slung trousers, often without a shirt.

In an interview with "Rolling Stone" in 2007, Scott mentioned that the only albums he has written sober are STP's "Core" and Velvet Revolver's "Libertad".

Weiland is a Notre Dame football fan, as his father is an alumnus. In September 2006, Weiland performed at the University of Notre Dame's Legends Restaurant on the night before a football game. He sang several of his solo songs, as well as 'Interstate Love Song' and a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here'.

Chester Bennington of Linkin Park claims Weiland is his role model and biggest influence.

He performed with Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit on the album "Significant Other" in the song 'Nobody Like You' along with Jonathan Davis from Korn. He was also tributed in the same album with the song 'Show Me What You Got', along with Eminem, Kid Rock, Jordan, The Firm, Wu-Tang Clan, Method Man, and Staind. He was also featured on Limp Bizkit's third album, "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water", in the song 'Hold On.'

According to many people Scott Weiland strongly resembles Clint Eastwood; in the music video for 'She Builds Quick Machines', the members of VR appear wearing cowboy costumes, resembling the movie "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

Weiland has bipolar disorder. In an interview with VH1.com, he said that he does not take medication for the disorder, and so he goes through manic and depressive episodes. (... more)

He is married to model Mary Forsberg. They have two young children, Noah (born 2000) and Lucy (born 2002).

Scott and his son Noah were featured on comedian David Spade's "The Showbiz Show w/ David Spade" during a comedy sketch about discouraging music file sharing in 2005. Noah has a line during the sketch in which he asks a little girl, 'Please buy my daddy's album so I can food to eat'. The girl shakes her head yes.

Scott Weiland cites David Bowie and Jim Morrison as two of his biggest influences.

Weiland had a brief friendship with Courtney Love around 1998. Scott claims that the two used drugs together.

Scott appeared on VH1 Decades Live as Cyndi Lauper's guest performer in 'Money Changes Everything' and 'Time After Time'.

He was born Scott Kent (or Kline, depending on your reading source). The surname Weiland came from being adopted by his Stepfather, David Weiland.