The rock band Stone Temple Pilots was formed in California, in 1986. The current lineup includes Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo, and Eric Kretz. Stone Temple Pilots are particularly famous for such songs as “Plush”, “Vasoline”, and “Sour Girls”. The band holds several awards, including a Grammy and 2 Billboard Music awards.
Scott Weiland (ex-member) and Rober DeLeo met in Southern California at a Black Flag concert. They decided to create a duo. The young men adopted the name Swing and started recording songs at Robert’s home studio. They found a drummer, Eric Kretz, at one of the San Diego night club. Robert’s brother Dean became a lead guitarist. The band got a new name Mighty Joe Young.
In 1992, the musicians signed a contract with Atlantic Records and changed the name since it turned out that the band Mighty Joe Young already exists. The young men decided to take the abbreviation of an oil company STP. They came up with an interpretation, which was Stone Temple Pilots. The same year, the band released the debut album Core, which the critics called an imitation of Pearl Jam. However, the LP got high spots on the charts and eventually received an impressive variety of platinum certifications.
In 1994, Stone Temple Pilots released their second album Purple. It got high ratings and topped Billboard 200 for three weeks. The same year Scott Wieland started having serious drug use problems. Several times, he was arrested for drug possessions. In 1995, Scott went into rehab. The band had to record the next album in extreme conditions. Wieland appeared in the recording studio only with doctors at his side. However, this didn’t influence the success of the LP, which reached the 4th spot on Billboard 200. Wieland continued having problems with drugs and one of the tours had to be cancelled midway.
In 1996, the band released another successful album Tiny Music…Songs from The Vatican Gift Shop. It received several platinum certifications and reached the 4th spot on Billboard 200. Before going on hiatus in 2002, the band released two successful albums. They came back to work in 2008 and released another successful LP Stone Temple Pilots. The band continues to work on new songs and performs live.
