Chester Bennington No Longer A Stone Temple Pilot

This weekend, word began going around that Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington would be leaving his post as singer of hard rockers Stone Temple Pilots. These rumors were aided by former STP singer and overall credit to humanity Scott Weiland, who began running his mouth about the whole thing this weekend, saying:

“He’s not in the band anymore. Chester’s got a band, Linkin Park, where he gets paid $700,000 a night with, and with STP, the brand is kind of falling apart, which is a shame.”

What a class act. Don’t sound too sad for them now, Scott.

Well, according to Blabbermouth, it’s official: Bennington’s out of STP. The singer made the following statement:

“Going in to this, the four of us… Robert [DeLeo, bass], Eric [Kretz, drums], Dean [DeLeo, guitar] and myself knew what we were up against. We decided in due fairness to friends, fans and the legacy of STP that it needs more than time was allowing me. And in all fairness to my bandmates in Linkin Park, as well as to myself and to my family, I’m going to focus solely on Linkin Park so I can contribute 100%.

“It’s been an amazing experience and a dream come true, and I look forward to the future of both STP and Linkin Park.”

You can’t blame him. STP are at this point kind of a nostalgia act, while Linkin Park is… well, also sort of a nostalgia act, but one that’s still making big hits and tons of money. To be fair, Scott Weiland’s assessment of the situation wasn’t wrong, it was just the method with which he made said statement that was shitty in that bitter rock star kind of way.

Anyway, hopefully STP will find a great singer and return to their former glory. Though somehow, honestly, we doubt it.