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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2015

US band , L to R, , , and Duff In this Dec 1, 2004, file photo, Velvet Revolver lead singer Scott Weiland, left, and McKagin, pose with the best award at the Grammy Awards ceremony in Slash perform “Fall to Pieces” perform at the VH1 Big in ‘04 awards, in . Los Angeles in this February 13, 2005, file photo. — AP/AFP photos Scott Weiland dies at 48, says Guitarist

ocker Scott Weiland, ex-frontman of the wife. In 2008, he checked into rehab after being and Velvet Revolver who arrested for a DUI and is believed to have struggled Rbattled over the years, was with sobriety for the past 25 years. “People have this found dead on Thursday. He was 48. Jane’s misconception about me,” he said in an interview Addiction guitarist tweeted the with USA Today in 2011. “OK, I struggled with news. “Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has and and I was a big rock star. But music is died. So gutted, I am thinking of his family not what defines me. I’m a brother, a father, a son.” tonight,” Navarro wrote. Weiland was found unre- Weiland later split from Stone Temple Pilots and sponsive on his tour bus in , where he formed supergroup Velvet Revolver with ex-Guns and his current band The Wildabouts were sched- N’ Roses rockers Slash and Duff McKagan, and Matt uled to perform at the Medina Ballroom, but the Sorum. The band eventually split up, again because show was cancelled, according to TMZ. of Weiland’s substance abuse. “I’m still on the verge Zach Myers, lead singer and guitarist for The all the time,” he said of his fight to remain sober. “My brother passed away [from a drug overdose in 2007], and that’s something that will always stay with me.” In 2008, Weiland reunited with STP for the last time before leaving the band again and embarking on a solo career. But not, of course, without Weiland storming off in dramatic fashion. After ex-members of Stone Temple Pilots sued the two-time Grammy-winner in 2013 for playing In this May 17, 2008, file photo, Scott Weiland, singer for the rock band Stone their material during his solo shows (STP was later Temple Pilots, right, and bass player Robert DeLeo perform during their concert as fronted by singer ), part of in Columbus, Ohio. Weiland countersued, calling his ex-bandmates’ claims “ridiculous.” The group eventually reached a and 2000s with power ballads like “Plush,” settlement out of court. “I apologize to those fans “” and “.” Their music out there who are, feel like they’re caught in the still plays in heavy rotation on sta- middle of it,” he said at the time. “‘Cause I sure feel tions alongside ‘90s acts like Nirvana, like I’m caught in the middle of it emotionally, and and . all I want to do is play music.” Known for his bari- But it was Weiland’s rock star ways that often got tone vocal style, Weiland has also performed with him in trouble offstage. After spending five months the remaining members of for a VH1 in prison for possession of heroin in 1998, he was “Storytellers” special. He is survived by his two chil- later charged with domestic abuse for assaulting his dren, Noah and Lucy. — Reuters This March 10, 2015 file photo shows Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts per- forming at Gramercy Theatre in New York. Fairwell, corroborated the news on . “Sadly our production manager who worked for STP for a long time just confirmed .... So sad,” he said. It’s unknown what caused the singer’s death. Weiland, In this Nov 24, who battled heroin and cocaine addiction over the 2008, file photo, years, was known for his flamboyant and unpre- singer Scott dictable persona onstage. Weiland performs Wielding a megaphone alongside his band- at the Hollywood mates for sound effect, the fiery-haired frontman & Highland com- led the Southern -based Stone Temple plex in Los Pilots for two decades. Also referred to as “STP” by This March 10, 2015 file photo shows Angeles to pro- their fans, the quartet stormed the scene in Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts per- mote his new 1992 with hit single “Creep” before going on to forming at Gramercy Theatre in New , “Happy in become one of the most popular rock bands of the York. Galoshes.”