Former Stone Temple Pilots Singer Scott Weiland Found Dead

The singer, who also fronted Velvet Revolver, was found unresponsive in his tour bus.

Scott Weiland, best known as the frontman of the '90s alt-rock group Stone Temple Pilots, died in his sleep on Thursday in Minnesota, his manager confirmed with NBC News. He was 48.

The singer, whose musical career included a stop in San Diego in the late '80s with STP when the band was first known as Mighty Joe Young, was found unresponsive on his tour bus, according to published reports. He was slated to perform Friday in Rochester, Minnesota, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The news first broke when Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro tweeted, "Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has died. So gutted, I am thinking of his family tonight." That tweet has since been deleted.

In a statement released Friday, The Recording Academy said Weiland “will forever live on,” calling him an extraordinary talent whose performances captivated audiences.

“We have lost an innovative member of our creative community and our sincerest condolences go out to Scott’s family, friends, collaborators and all who have been impacted by his incredible work,” the academy said in the statement.

Weiland also fronted the band Velvet Revolver with former Guns n' Roses members Slash on guitar, Duff McKagan on bass and Matt Sorum on the drums. Weiland was featured on vocals for the group's albums "Contraband" and "Libertad."

One of his signature moves onstage was to sing through a megaphone into a mic to produce a gritty sound that matched the alternative grunge style of the music he played through out his career. 

For "Contraband," Weiland helped produce the album from an in-patient rehab facility. The rock star was ordered to spend 10 days in the residential facility after he pleaded no-contest to two counts of felony drug possession. The judge allowed him to leave four hours a day to finish the album, according to E! news.

Months after the the felony drug possession charges, Weiland crashed his BMW into a parked car in Hollywood while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, according to E!

Stone Temple Pilots, made up of Weiland along with two brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo, were part of the alt-rock vanguard, releasing the album "Core" in 1992, which generated a string of hits, including "Creep." Their sophomore effort, "Purple," also went platinum, featuring the hits "Vasoline" and "Interstate Love Song."

Weiland was an on-again, off-again member of Stone Temple Pilots. In 2013, Weiland was outraged to learn he was "terminated" from the band from the press.

"I learned of my supposed 'termination' from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press," the singer said 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."

In 1995, Weiland was arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin following the success of the album "Purple" which ultimately got him kicked out of the Stone Temple Pilots. The rocker attemped a solo career but ended up overdosing on heroin and spent a year in Los Angeles County Jail.  

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