San Diego, California contributed its rock and roll best, Stone Temple Pilots, or as fans sometimes say, “STP.” The band’s original lineup consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz (drums).
Since the band’s formation in 1986, its line-up remained unchanged until the firing of Weiland in 2013, who was replaced by Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington for a short time. The band has been auditioning for a new singer since Scott Weiland’s untimely death in December, 2015. STP may announce their selection anytime.
The band’s first called itself Swing, then Mighty Joe Young until they were signed by Atlantic Records. Renamed Stone Temple Pilots, their first album, Core (1992), was a commercial success and they went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s. The band released four more studio albums before disbanding in 2002.
The band eventually reconvened in 2008 for a reunion tour, released a new self-titled album in 2010, and actively toured until Chester Bennington’s departure. The band’s only material with Bennington was the EP High Rise in 2013.
While initially displaying a sound typically identified as grunge early on in its career, further releases from the band expressed a variety of influences, including psychedelic rock, bossa nova and classic rock. The band’s evolution throughout the 1990s and early 2000s involved several tumultuous periods of commercial highs and lows, brought about in part by Weiland’s well-publicized struggles with drug addiction.
In February, 1994, the group won Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist at the American Music Awards. A month later, the group won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song “Plush.”
The band’s sound is considered a blending of the alternative rock of the 1980s and 90s with the hard rock of the 1970s, though the band is known for making each of their records possess a unique musical style, despite having the “sonic blueprint” of the band, as Robert DeLeo describes it.
Core, certified 8× platinum by the RIAA, drove the band to popularity. STP went on to become one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling nearly 40 million records worldwide, including 17.5 million units in the United States before their dissolution in 2003. The band has had 16 top ten singles on the Billboard rock charts, eight of which peaked at No. 1 and one No. 1 album for Purple in 1994.
That same year, the band won a Grammy for “Best Hard Rock Performance” for the song “Plush” from the album Core. Stone Temple Pilots were also ranked No. 40 on VH1’s The 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. As of 2015, the band has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.
On December 3, 2016, STP posted a tribute on their website to mark the one year anniversary of Weiland’s death.
Artist Website
Discography
Core (1992)
Purple (1994)
Tiny Music (1996)
No. 4 (1999)
Shangri-La Dee Dah (2001)
Stone Temple Pilots (2010)
Videos