With the untimely passing of founding member and longtime lead singer Scott Weiland in 2015, and the tragic suicide of replacement singer Chester Bennington (of Linkin Park) in 2017, the Stone Temple Pilots were at a crucial crossroads with one question in mind — pack it all up and shake hands goodbye or push ahead, hell or high water.
They chose the latter, kicking off a worldwide search for the next frontman of one of the most beloved acts in the history of rock music. They scoured the globe — thousands of submissions, hundreds of demos listened to, dozens of possible leads brought into the studio to jam and see if everyone gelled.
And yet nothing came of it. Either the submissions sounded too much like Weiland or Bennington, or the demos sounded like nothing in the same ballpark as what STP is all about — MC5 punk attitude meets L.A. psychedelic hard rock.
The surviving members of STP — brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert (bass) DeLeo and Eric Kretz (drummer) — were riding a razor sharp line between paying tribute to the legacy of their storied band and its slew of hits, and also avoiding becoming the thing they dread the most — a nostalgia act.
None of the members wanted to step onstage and just “play the hits” like some kind of Groundhog Day scenario. They wanted to sprinkle in the classics alongside whatever they’d been working on or planned to work with whoever would fill the enormous void left behind by Weiland and later Bennington.
And just as all hope was beginning to be lost last year, a chance encounter sparked a wild chain of events. On tour with the Hollywood Vampires (featuring Alice Cooper, Joe Perry of Aerosmith and actor Johnny Depp), Robert DeLeo was backstage in Detroit, Michigan, when it was mentioned that STP should bring in popular local singer Jeff Gutt in for an audition.
The DeLeo’s and Kretz called Gutt in, with the audition coming together seamlessly — in the studio and at Gutt’s coronation onstage as the new lead singer of STP at The Troubadour nightclub in the heart of West Hollywood, California, on Nov. 14, 2017. Gutt could hit the high notes and had that crooning ability that was so signature to Weiland’s sound and presence, and also the howling rage brought to the surface by Bennington’s tenure — the ideal foundation by which STP could built on moving forward.
In March 2018, STP released a self-titled album, its debut with Gutt. In the midst of its United States tour, Smoky Mountain Living caught up with Dean DeLeo. He spoke of the living, breathing legacy of STP, what Gutt has meant to a rejuvenation within the group’s outlook, and what’s to come in this next, bountiful chapter of one of America’s great rock bands.
Interview with Dean DeLeo (Part #1):
Interview with Dean DeLeo (Part #2):
(Editor’s Note: The Stone Temple Pilots will perform on Wednesday, May 4, at The Mill & Mine in Knoxville, Tennessee. The band will also hit the stage on Tuesday, May 22, at The Signal in Chattanooga, Tennessee. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on www.stonetemplepilots.com.)