Scott Weiland, Former Frontman of Stone Temple Pilots, Has Died

The singer was 48. 

The landscape of music changed for the worse Thursday night when it was announced that Scott Weiland, former frontman for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, had passed away. Details are still coming in, but from what’s being reported so far the singer died in his sleep on his tour bus prior to a show he was about to perform in Bloomington, Minnesota with his current touring band the Wildabouts.

According to Rolling Stone, Dave Navarro, former guitarist for Jane’s Addiction and long time friend of Weiland,  announced the news via Twitter late last night, but has since deleted the tweet, which read: “Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has died. So gutted, I am thinking of his family tonight.”

Weiland publicly struggled with drug addiction for most of his adult life, and was convicted in 1995, at the height of Stone Temple Pilots’ popularity, for buying crack. He checked into rehab in 2008 and seemed to have been stabilizing since then. Speculation has been made that drugs may have been involved with his death, but we won’t know for sure until full details are released. No matter the outcome of those details, Weiland’s musical career left an indelible mark on rock history, and nothing can take away from that.

An official statement has been posted to Weiland’s official Facebook page:

UPDATE: TMZ is now reporting that the cause of Weiland’s death was cardiac arrest.

Photos by Getty Images/Larry Busacca