Could Stone Temple Pilots be searching for another vocalist? According to the band’s former frontman, Scott Weiland, his successor, Chester Bennington, has left the group.
Speaking with Alternative Nation, Weiland dropped the surprising revelation when asked what he thought about the Bennington-led band. “He’s not in the band anymore,” stated Weiland, who
reiterated, “I heard he’s not in the band anymore,” when pressed to elaborate.
Weiland went on to state, “[Chester’s] got a band [Linkin Park] where he gets paid $700,000 a night with, and with STP, the brand is kind of falling apart, which is a shame.”
While there has been no official word from Stone Temple Pilots on their current state, a tweet from a fellow artist may have lent some backing to Weiland’s speculation. In a recent chat with fans
on Twitter, Highly Suspect vocalist Johnny Stevens revealed he’d been approached about his availability by STP guitarist Dean DeLeo. Highly Suspect scored a huge rock radio hit this year with the
track “Lydia,” and are currently rising up the charts again with the song “Bloodfeather.” Stevens’ tweets can be seen below:
Straight up dean deleo called me and asked me to join but I said no. That's not a joke. https://t.co/5bSypzfx64
— Highly Suspect (@Highly_Suspect) 7 Novembre 2015
In August. https://t.co/zrGLeX6ThO
— Highly Suspect (@Highly_Suspect) 7 Novembre 2015
Bennington joined Stone Temple Pilots in 2013, shortly after the band fired Weiland as their vocalist. By October 2013, the band released their first material with Bennington, an EP called High
Rise. The band has toured with Bennington over the last couple of years and has spent time in the studio writing with the vocalist between his duties with Linkin Park.
Meanwhile, Stone Temple Pilots are set to perform with soul singer Joss Stone as “Joss Stone Temple Pilots” as part of Jimmy Kimmel Live‘s Mashup Mondays. The performance will air Nov. 9.
As stated, there has been no official word on Bennington leaving the band. We’ll keep you up to date.
update
Officially, through the site of the Stone Temple Pilots, we become aware of the decision taken by Chester on leaving the group to return on Linkin Park project, below what has been written by Robert, Eric and Dean:
The last few years have been an amazing experience. I got to create and perform with one of the greatest rock bands of our generation, that had so much influence on me growing up. With the amount of time STP deserves, in addition to being in Linkin Park, and with the needs of my family, one of them always seems to fall short. Going in to this, the four of us… Robert, Eric, Dean and myself knew what we were up against. We decided in due fairness to friends, fans and the legacy of STP that it needs more than time was allowing me. And in all fairness to my bandmates in Linkin Park, as well as to myself and to my family, I’m going to focus solely on Linkin Park so I can contribute 100%. It’s been an amazing experience and a dream come true, and I look forward to the future of both STP and Linkin Park.
Chester
What an amazing and beautiful few years we’ve all had together. It was our honor to play and see all of you recently on tour. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time together with Chester not only professionally, but even more so on a personal level. Sadly, it was evident that scheduling and time was working against us. Within this, there is a new beginning. There is an abundance of new music written, some of which is already recorded. We have had the fortune of playing with some very talented singers over the last few months and will continue to do so until each of us feels and knows when the right person arrives.
With love,
Robert, Eric, Dean