Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California in 1989 around Scott Weiland, brothers Dean and Robert DeLeo, and Eric Kretz. Core (1992) sold over 8 million copies in the US and Purple (1994) went straight to number one — the one-two punch of '90s alternative rock at its biggest. Shop Stone Temple Pilots vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Stone Temple Pilots formed in San Diego, California in 1989 around Scott Weiland (born October 27, 1967, San Jose, California; died December 3, 2015), Dean DeLeo (born August 23, 1961, Point Pleasant, New Jersey), Robert DeLeo (born February 2, 1966, Point Pleasant, New Jersey), and Eric Kretz (born June 7, 1966, Santa Cruz, California). They are widely cited as one of the most important American rock bands of the 1990s grunge and alternative rock movement. Their 1992 debut Core sold over 8 million copies in the US alone and established their commercial breakthrough. Their 1994 follow-up Purple debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Scott Weiland struggled with drug addiction across his career (multiple heroin and cocaine addiction relapses, public legal issues). He departed the band in 2013, with Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) serving as vocalist from 2013-2015 (High Rise EP 2013). Weiland died of accidental polydrug intoxication on December 3, 2015 at age 48 in his Bloomington, Minnesota tour bus. Chester Bennington died by suicide on July 20, 2017 at age 41. Jeff Gutt has been vocalist since 2017. The band has continued releasing material with 2018 self-titled and Perdida (2020). Their foundational influence on contemporary alternative rock is widely cited.
Stone Temple Pilots's sound combines alternative rock, grunge, hard rock, post-grunge, alternative metal, glam rock influences, and acoustic rock with Weiland's distinctive vocal delivery (range and dramatic phrasing), the DeLeo brothers' compositional approaches, and varied compositional approaches across their multi-decade career.
Original Atlantic Records and Rhino Records pressings of the Stone Temple Pilots catalog are foundational items in 1990s alternative rock collecting, with collector premiums on rare pressings.
Listeners new to Stone Temple Pilots typically start with Core (1992) or Purple (1994).
