Robert DeLeo: 'Stone Temple Pilots had to fire Scott Weiland'
Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert Deleo is adamant the group had no choice but to fire singer Scott Weiland because his antics were making his bandmates miserable.
Weiland was dismissed earlier this year (13) and he is now embroiled in a bitter legal battle with his former friends, who have sued him over allegations he sabotaged the group's recent 20th anniversary tour by turning up late for performances and missing promotional gigs.
DeLeo has now opened up about the tensions in the group which led
to Weiland's exit, insisting they needed to move forward without
him.
He tells Rolling Stone, "It was a very difficult decision to
terminate the face of your band. There are many paths to the
history of certain bands and each one is a little different, but it
all kind of turns out the same at the end. But it was a very
difficult decision to do that. That's as big as it gets. But we
really didn't have any other choice... (We) have been saddled by
someone for a long time. We've always looked out for Scott's best
interests and tried to be a great friend to someone who really
didn't care to be friends with us...
"And I don't think we had any other choice... (We) would rather
move ahead. I want to have f**king fun, man, making music. I have
the complete luxury of making music for a living. If I'm around
people that don't f**king get that, then I want to be around people
who get that."
Stone Temple Pilots are now working with Linkin Park's Chester
Bennington as their frontman, and DeLeo admits he feels grateful to
the singer's bandmates for letting him take up the post.
He adds, "I feel very humbled by the fact the guys in Linkin Park
are cool with this. All these guys are great dudes. It's not about
music - it's about the humanity of it. They're the kind of human
beings you want to be around at this point in life."
Bennington concludes, "I really respect the decision these guys
have made. I also understand how incredibly difficult having that
conversation would be... (But) this is their life. This is how
they're gonna pay their bills and put their kids through college,
this is how they're gonna want to spend the rest of their
lives."