Scott Weiland rejects 'firing' by Stone Temple Pilots
Scott Weiland says 'How can I be 'terminated' from a band that I founded, fronted, and co-wrote man of its biggest hits?" Scott Weiland says the Stone Temple Pilots dispute is now in the hands of lawyers.
Tthe Stone Temple Pilots, from left, Dean Deleo, Eric Kretz, Robert Deleo, and Scott Weiland pose for a portrait in Santa Monica, Calif. in 2010. On Wednesday, band publicist Kymm Britton said: "Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland."
AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file
New York
Singer Scott Weiland said he learned that he'd been fired by the Stone Temple Pilots when the band released a one-sentence statement to the media Wednesday.
"I learned of my supposed 'termination' from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press," he wrote in a statement. "Not sure how I can be 'terminated' from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that's something for the lawyers to figure out."
The statement by the band said: "Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland." No other information was provided.
Weiland said he's focusing on his solo tour, which kicks off Friday in Flint, Michigan.
RollingStone.com reports that Weiland's solo tour "will focus almost entirely on material from the first two STP albums, but he insisted [Wedneday] the band very much remains a priority.
"My personal feeling is that we need some new blood in the band," he said. "We've been playing the same greatest hits set since we got back together. I'd like to make a new record. It will breathe new life into the group."
He does acknowledge the group has been going through a rocky period. "There were some hurt egos," he says. "But that's the way it is. No one has ever fired anybody in STP. We're like a family. It's also a partnership. I started the band. We've always kept things going. We've taken time off before. They've done their own projects and I fully support that. No one has been fired and I haven't quit. That's all hearsay."
Stone Temple Pilots' 1992 debut, "Core," has sold more than 8 million units in the United States. Their hits include "Vasoline," ''Interstate Love Song" and "Plush," which won a Grammy in 1993 for best hard rock performance with vocal.
Weiland was also in the supergroup Velvet Revolver with Slash and other musicians. The 45-year-old has dealt with drug addiction, run-ins with the law and two failed marriages. He released his memoir, "Not Dead & Not for Sale," in 2011.
The Stone Temple Pilots' latest album is their self-titled 2010 release.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.