Scott Weiland Was Still Alive?
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Scott Weiland Was Still Alive?

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Scott Weiland deathAlthough I found out about the passing of former Stone Temple Pilots lead singer, Scott Weiland, the way most of us did—through Twitter—there has been no lack of coverage about his sudden death last Thursday. While the cause is still unknown (or at least not being released to the public), it’s hard not to make certain assumptions when someone with such a well-documented drug problem is found dead on a tour bus at the age of 48. But whatever happened, chances are his years of drug abuse probably didn’t help. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

Not Dead & Not for Sale

I’m not going to lie, hearing about Weiland’s death was a bit of a shock—mainly because I had no idea he was still alive. I don’t mean that it in a he-was-so-1994 way, I mean that there was a period of time, kind of a long period of time, between 1995 and 2003, where it seemed like Weiland’s illegal antics were in the news more times than “Vaseline” was played on the radio (in other words, a lot). So what happened was something I now refer to as “The Lindsay Lohan Effect,” when a celebrity publicly fucks up so many times, people start to lose track and inevitably lose interest. By the time grunge music overdosed on commercialism in the late 90s, most of us were long over STP and its neo-Jagger-esque frontman. And judging by the title of his 2011 memoir, Not Dead & Not for Sale, Weiland was well aware of this fact.

Remembering the Good Times

But now, going back and listening to all their hits—and it’s shocking how many there are—I am feeling a little guilty for abandoning STP the way I did. I jumped on the “Sex Type Thing” and “Wicked Garden” bandwagon but they were never my favorite grunge band, not even close (Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Temple of the Dog was where it was at for me). I always kind thought of STP in as pop sellouts of the grunge scene but it doesn’t mean they weren’t good. It’s not like they were Smashmouth (for Christ’s sake).

Regardless of how you might feel about Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots or Velvet Revolver (Weiland’s post-STP super band with Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum), you can’t not feel sad knowing that a true rock and roll star died in the parking lot of a Country Inn & Suites at the Mall of freakin’ America in Bloomington, Minnesota. I have been there in December and trust me, it’s not how anyone should go out. But it’s somewhat of a consolation knowing he was on his tour bus and that he went peacefully, though not punk-fully, in his sleep.

An Inside Look

Though, as mentioned earlier, Weiland’s cause of death hasn’t been released, a few details have leaked that might put the pieces together. For instance, a small amount of cocaine (which probably didn’t start off as small) was found on the bus close to Weiland’s body. This doesn’t necessarily mean he was doing it (one of his band members had actually been arrested for its possession). Still, his longtime friend, former MTV VJ Matt Pinfield, posted on Facebook “I am speechless…and sad at the loss of my friend, and although many of you are probably not surprised, it doesn’t make it any easier. Addiction sucks. I will miss you Scott.”

The other piece of the puzzle that might make the singer’s sudden death not so surprising is that his younger brother, Michael, died of drug-related cardiomyopathy, a heart condition, in 2007. And though this hasn’t been confirmed, according to sources, on the initial 911 call on Weiland, police are heard saying the death could have been caused by a cardiac arrest.

Much Talent, RIP

They say in show business that there are two types of people: those who want to be recognized for their talents and those who want to be famous. You can usually tell which is which because the latter-types get a hit, ride it out, and then usually fade away. While artists get energy from creating, fame whores don’t want their 15 minutes disrupted by the burden of having to churn out more product. STP fan or not, there is no doubt that Scott Weiland was a talented mutherfucker who might have loved his drugs (and maybe attention from the media) but it is clear that he loved making music and performing just as much.

Photo courtesy daigooliva (Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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About Author

Danielle Stewart is a Los Angeles-based writer and recovering comedian. She has written for Showtime, E!, and MTV, as well as print publications such as Us Weekly and Life & Style Magazine. She returned to school and is currently working her way towards a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She loves coffee, Law & Order SVU, and her emotional support dog, Benson.