BY MELISSA RUGGIERI
Scott Weiland, the troubled former lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, has died.
The singer was reportedly found dead on his tour bus Thursday night by his manager, according to numerous reports. Weiland and his band were scheduled to play Rochester, Minn., on Friday.
The news was initially confirmed by longtime friend Dave Navarro, who posted an R.I.P. message on Twitter shortly after midnight, but has since deleted the tweet ("Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has died," he said).
Weiland, 48, and his latest band, The Wildabouts, released the album “Blaster” in March and were touring to support the release.
He and the Wildabouts performed in Atlanta in March, with a show at the Masquerade.
A few months ago, Weiland canceled a slew of European tour dates because of "administration and production issues."
Though Weiland is best known for his tenure in Stone Temple Pilots and their rock hits “Interstate Love Song,” “Creep,” “Big Empty” and “Vasoline,” he also fronted the supergroup Velvet Revolver from 2003-2008, sharing stage time with Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner.
Weiland established a decent solo career as well, having released four studio albums, a covers album and a live album.
The California native produced a memoir in 2011, "Not Dead & Not for Sale," in which he talked candidly about his past drug use, including heroin and cocaine. But in recent years, Weiland insisted he was drug free; earlier this year, he released a public statement directed at Filter frontman Richard Patrick in which Weiland said, "I haven't had a needle in my arm in thirteen years."
Immediately after the news broke, social media sparked with messages from the rock community.
Here is Weiland and the Wildabouts performing STP's "Big Empty."
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