In December of 2015, Scott Weiland passed away at the age of 48. His death shocked the rock world. At the time of his death, he had formed a new group called Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts. He was touring with the band and even put out a record.
Scott Weiland Acts Strangely On Stage
In April of 2015, footage emerged online of Scott Weiland playing with his band in Texas and Scott really seemed out of it. Weiland’s rep put out a statement saying he hadn’t gone much sleep, he had a faulty earpiece and he had a few drinks.
Shortly after the incident happened, Richard Patrick of Filter gave an interview commenting on Weiland, “We all want Scott to be Scott but Scott’s not even really Scott. I love him but he’s transformed into a very different person.
Bless his heart and I hope he gets sober and everything but I was in Army of Anyone for years with the Stone Temple Pilots’ DeLeo Brothers and working on that record and producing it, I heard a lot of stuff about what it was like being in a band with Scott and when someone shows up an hour and a half late to a show in New Jersey and makes an audience wait, all these people want to go home.”
“…He’ll be a rock star legend that died in a hotel room with a needle sticking out of his arm…” – Richard Patrick
The vocalist would go on to say, “Some STP fans say he’s a badass rock n’ roll star. You can’t have STP without Scott Weiland. Okay, well you’re gonna get what you want. He’ll be a rock star legend that died in a hotel room with a needle sticking out of his arm. It will not be a cool thing and it will just be sad and his kids will be traumatized and it’s bizarre that the biggest enabler for Scott is the audience.”
Weiland responded to these comments with a statement he’d released through Blabbermouth that read, “Hey Richard, thanks for your thoughts and opinions on my life and just so you know and others do as well, I haven’t had a needle in my arm in 13 years.
Overcoming my addiction was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and I’m damn proud of the fact that the time of my life when drugs were stronger than my commitment to my health is so far behind me and always will be. By the way man, I recall when I did do drugs and you were one of the guys getting high with me, it’s behind you. Please note and respect that it’s behind me too.
As for my issues with my former band, just remember the old adage that there’s two sides to every story. I haven’t been late for a show in a very long time and I have worked really hard to be present and on time for my fans. I’m not perfect, no one is but I’ve worked my butt off to repair the reputation I created for being thoughtless years ago. Why you felt the need to attack me is unclear but I’m happy to set the record straight. Best regards to you.”
Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts
In March of 2015, Weiland was back with a new studio album named Blaster and a band called The Wildabouts. The band was hit by tragedy early on when guitarist Jeremy Brown, whom Weiland considered one of his best friends, failed to show up for a rehearsal.
The 34 year old had died at his home in Venice, California caused by what the Los Angeles coroner would later determine involved accidental multiple drug intoxication. It was during this time that Weiland was experiencing episodes of paranoia caused by his bipolar disorder.
Jamie Weiland, Scott Weiland’s third wife, talked a bit about Scott’s bipolar episodes, saying, “I started to see he had paranoia and some of the bipolar stuff started to come out. He kept his curtains closed all the time and at one point, it was so bad I had to move out because he was so unstable. They found one medication that worked but Weiland would gain 40 pounds so he stopped taking it and eventually they found a medication that leveled him out and for the last couple of years he was doing pretty great.”
2015 continued to be a sad year for Weiland. His father called him on Father’s Day to say he had prostate cancer. Soon, Weiland would learn that his mother, with whom he was very close with, had cancer as well. This was especially terrible for him since he had lost his brother in 2007 due to a heart condition.
“He was sad about his mom.” – Nick Maybury
Nick Maybury, who would replace Brown in The Wildabouts would recall, “He was sad about his mom.” At a tour stop in San Diego, Weiland would break down crying on the street before sound check with Maybury remembering, “We were just holding him like, it’s alright brother.”
Weiland was estranged from his own children who lived with their mother, Weiland’s second wife, Mary Forsberg. A court had granted her full custody of them and Weiland was also missing his kids.
Scott continued to tour because he needed the income, which was another major source of anxiety. With a Grammy winning catalog that spanned more than two decades, he’d sold about 16.2 million albums in the United States, according to Nielsen Music but many trips to rehab, child support payments, substance abuse and two divorces had left the entertainer in serious financial trouble.
It also didn’t help that Weiland was not physically healthy. In addition to 6 prescription drugs he took regularly, he was drinking, which concerned his wife. Weiland also contracted hepatitis C which was likely acquired from years of intravenous drug use.
Weiland’s slide into his old lifestyle really appeared to have started in 2007. His brother had died from a disease of the heart muscle that often stems from drug use. Weiland’s sister-in-law would remember that the loss of his brother was a huge blow and Weiland probably never recovered from that loss.
“It’s a heavy thing and I realized it wasn’t going to make a difference, that’s how he was.” – Nick Maybury
Weiland, himself, never thought his drinking was a problem but in the spring of 2015, the newest Wildabout guitarist, Maybury had worried about his bandmate’s drinking. He tried to talk with Weiland but that was useless so he took refuge in Al-Anon which is a recovery program for family and friends of alcoholics, remembering, “It’s a heavy thing and I realized it wasn’t going to make a difference, that’s how he was.”
On past tours Weiland brought along a sobriety coach for support but he hadn’t used one in years. On the road, Weiland and his bassist Tommy Black were drinking buddies. The two had been out late Wednesday on December 2, 2015 in Chicago where the Wildabouts’ bus stopped after a show in Toronto.
The next morning, according to a crew member on the bus, Weiland woke up at 9, used the bathroom and then returned to bed. Some time later, after they arrived in Bloomington, Minnesota, Black knocked on the singer’s door to invite him to breakfast but Weiland didn’t answer. This wasn’t unusual.
Weiland was known for sleeping late and that was one custom everybody observed. If Scott’s asleep, then we leave him alone. So when the band and crew headed out to shop for Christmas presents, they left him behind like always.
In Los Angeles that same day, his wife Jamie woke up with a text that read, “I’m so in love with my beautiful wife.” She called and texted Weiland’s phone but got no response. It wasn’t like him not to get back to her, especially on a day off.
Aaron Mohler Attempts to Rouse Scott Weiland
At 7 pm in Minnesota, she called Aaron Mohler, the band’s tour manager who promised to rouse the singer. Around 8:00 pm, Mohler entered the bus and Weiland was lying on his left side in a fetal position. His hands were by his head and his eyes were half closed.
“I shook his leg and thought, ‘oh my god he’s not moving.’ I went to his shoulders and realized he was stiff.” Mohler called drummer Joey Castillo, who sprinted from the lobby. He looked for a pulse along Weiland’s neck but couldn’t find one. Mohler dialed 911, “I think he’s dead,” he said to the dispatcher, “He’s not breathing.”
“‘Honey, he’s dead. He’s not coming back,’ and I just fell to the floor.” – Jamie Weiland
Jamie still hadn’t heard anything so she kept redialing Mohler’s cell which went straight to voicemail. A crew member called her to break the terrible news. “‘Honey, he’s dead. He’s not coming back,’ and I just fell to the floor,” Jamie remembered.
The last time Jamie Weiland saw her husband, Scott alive, the couple spent a romantic Thanksgiving Day dining at an Italian restaurant in New York. The night before, on November 25, 2015, the former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman headlined the nearby Gramercy Theater with his backing band, The Wildabouts.
Even though the couple was having a great dinner together, she remembered, “I think maybe I knew I was never going to see him again. We couldn’t get enough of each other and it was very powerful.”
One week after that dinner together, Scott Weiland would be found dead on his tour bus from a toxic mix of drugs. His death was ruled accidental.
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