Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo discussed the deaths of his bandmates Scott Weiland and Chester Bennington in a new The Record interview.
One: charismatic Scott Weiland, with whom they rode the crest of the grunge wave, and who died in 2015 after a productively volatile tenure that ended with his 2013 firing and death by overdose two years later.
Two: lovable Chester Bennington, the former Linkin Park frontman who hopped on board in 2013 before leaving amicably two years later and — struggling with depression — died by suicide in 2017.
“I think a lot of that stuff goes back to childhood, doesn’t it?” notes DeLeo, speaking specifically about Weiland.
“I’ll be taking away from that for the rest of my life. We had a gift together and it puts me in a place of gratitude. I feel very fortunate for the time spent with someone like Scott.”
It’s not like there weren’t plenty of red flags, he notes, with Weiland’s addictions dating back to his 1995 arrest for heroin and cocaine possession.
Bennington, however, was different.
“I never saw any of that in Chester,” notes DeLeo, equally respectful of both his deceased bandmates.
“He was a sweet, laughing positive kind of person. That was a huge shock what happened with him, and still is.”
