Scott Weiland Died One Year Ago

Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman, world-class performer, husband and father Scott Weiland died one year ago this past Saturday, December 3rd. His death shook me more deeply than any of the other high-profile celebrity deaths to take place in the last couple of years. The day after he died, I scribbled down some thoughts on what his life and career meant to me; you can read those here.

I choose to remember Weiland through two career-defining performances. The first, which made the rounds after his death, took place at the Rolling Rock Town Fair in Latrobe, PA, on a hot summer day in 2001. He had nearly a hundred thousand people in the palm of his hand on an absolutely scorching day, his performance and presence just as full of fire as the sun above. And the second, the obscure No. 4 album track “Atlanta” on VH1 Storytellers about a year and a half prior to that. At both, Weiland was in top form; sober, clear-headed, sounding great, locked in. I get chills watching both. Let’s him remember this way, and not what he later became.

The surviving members of Stone Temple Pilots posted a message commemorating the one-year anniversary of Weiland’s death. You can read that below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7wov01b4Ic

https://youtu.be/_rJB_bc8gmQ?t=22m42s