There’s been plenty of drama surrounding Stone Temple Pilot’s firing of Scott Weiland. That’s why the biggest surprise at Saturday’s (May 18) KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, CA came when Stone Temple Pilots not only performed, but had Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington onstage with them.
Stone Temple Pilots made a surprise appearance at the radio station’s annual show, performing a handful of classics AND a brand spanking new song called “Out Of Time” with the Linkin Park singer. Shortly after the performance, STP’s website was updated with new photos of the band with Bennington, a teaser video for the new tune and a free download of said song. While it’s unclear as to how long this will last, it’s safe to say that Chester Bennington is now the new singer of Stone Temple Pilots for the time being.
With that said, both the band and Bennington have made it clear that the singer’s main focus is still Linkin Park. “Chester has a one-of-a-kind voice that we’ve admired for a long time,” said guitarist Dean DeLeo in an official statement. “We know Linkin Park will always be his priority, but we thought it would be cool to try something together. We managed to find the time to record a song and we’re all really happy with the result.” “I’ve loved STP since I was 13 years old and they’ve had a huge influence on me,” added Bennington. “When the opportunity came up to do something creative with them, I jumped at the chance. The guys in Linkin Park have been incredibly supportive of me undertaking this project while I’ve continued to work on new music with LP.”
Not only has Bennington been a longtime fan of STP, but he’s also been friends with the band members (especially Weiland) for a while as well. In fact, Bennington once declared in an interview that he was too close of friends with Weiland to replace him in his other estranged group, Velvet Revolver. So it’s a little surprising to see Bennington replacing Weiland in STP now, especially considering that this split makes the Velvet Revolver drama look like a walk through the park.
STP’s new song “Out Of Time” can be downloaded for free online. Meanwhile, footage of Bennington’s performance with STP at the Weenie Roast can be seen below. STP’s next performance with the singer is slater to take place at the annual MusiCares event (where Bennington is also being honored) in L.A. on May 30.
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