FUSE TV - Scott Weiland Responds to Stone Temple Pilots Firing

Update: Weiland released the following to Rolling Stone: "I learned of my supposed 'termination' from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press. Not sure how I can be 'terminated' from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that’s something for the lawyers to figure out. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing all of my fans on my solo tour which starts this Friday."

There's a dramatic new development in the never-ending saga of Scott Weiland: The singer has been fired from Stone Temple Pilots. 

The alt-rock vets announced his ousting with a very short and very vague statement Wednesday morning: "Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland." Okay then! Clearly the outspoken Weiland didn't write that one himself. 

This isn't the first time Weiland, who has dealt with serious drug and law issues throughout his career, has been axed from one of his bands. He exited STP twice under acrimonious terms to record solo albums—1998's 12 Bar Blues and 2008's "Happy" in Galoshes—and was also officially fired from Velvet Revolver, the hard rock supergroup he formed with Slash and other ex-Guns N' Roses members. "The truth of the matter is that the band had not gotten along on multiple levels for some time," Weiland said then. He later blamed rampant drug abuse for his exit.

All bands eventually made amends, though; Weiland reunited with Velvet Revolver for a one-off gig early last year and in 2010 STP got back together for their first album in nine years, the criminally-underrated Stone Temple Pilots.

So why exactly did Weiland get axed this time? Good question. Let's speculate: During the band's last tour he was often under the influence; he fell offstage in Cincinnati and later the band postponed a string of dates.

More recently, though, Weiland promised STP would play their 1992 debut Core in its entirety on tour. When that didn't happen, he started claiming that he'd play tracks from Core and its classic 1994 follow-up Purple on a solo tour, essentially telling STP's the DeLeo Brothers—with whom Weiland has had a long and tumultuous relationship—that they're merely a replaceable backup act.

Who knows what this means for both STP and Weiland's future—maybe the band will audition for a new singer, while Weiland returns to the solo game. Which wouldn't be so bad, actually—Happy in Galoshes was decent. 

But could the alt-rock band really continue on with a different singer? Would you see a Weiland-less STP in concert?