Stone Temple Pilots, often abbreviated to STP, are an American rock band that consists of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Robert DeLeo (bass guitar, vocals) and Dean DeLeo (guitar), and Eric Kretz (drums, percussion).^[4]

The band found immediate success with the release of their debut album Core in 1992, which is certified 8× platinum by the RIAA.^[5] STP went on to become one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling nearly 40 million records worldwide,^[6] including 17.5 million units in the United States.^[7] The band has had 16 top ten singles on the Billboard rock charts, seven of which peaked at #1,^[8] and one #1 album for Purple in 1994.^[9][10] That same year, the band won a Grammy for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for the song "Plush" from the album Core.^[2] Stone Temple Pilots were also ranked #40 on VH1's The 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.^[11]

Weiland's continual drug offenses caused multiple concert cancellations and band separations.^[12] These setbacks resulted in the creation of various alternate bands by each of the band members (see The Magnificent Bastards, Talk Show, Army of Anyone, Velvet Revolver) and two solo albums by Weiland. Kretz would go on to launch Bomb Shelter Studios in Los Angeles.^[13] The band's separation in 2003 lasted five years. Stone Temple Pilots reunited in April 2008 with a successful 71-date tour^[6] and the band's eponymous sixth studio album was released on May 25, 2010.^[14]

Stone Temple Pilots can trace its beginnings to a Black Flag concert in Long Beach, California in 1986, where Scott Weiland met Robert DeLeo. They began discussing their girlfriends, and, after realizing they were dating the same woman, developed a bond. They each subsequently broke it off with the girl, who left town, whereupon Weiland and DeLeo moved into her vacated apartment. Immediately, Weiland and DeLeo formed a band with two of Scott's friends from Edison High School, Corey Hicock (guitar) and David Allin (drums). After Allin's departure, drummer Eric Kretz joined the band. Soon after, Robert DeLeo's brother, Dean DeLeo, decided to play guitar in the band replacing Hicock, completing the quartet. They then named their band Mighty Joe Young. The band recorded a demo tape that was completed around 1990.[4]

The group then began to work on their debut album with Brendan O'Brien. During the recording, they received a call from their lawyer who informed them that there was a bluesman who had already claimed the name Mighty Joe Young.e.^[15] They liked the initials STP and eventually settled on the name Stone Temple Pilots. They were first seen nationally on MTV's 1990 Spring Break concert, in support of Living Colour.

Stone Temple Pilots built a fan base in San Diego clubs in order to steer clear of the Los Angeles corporate music scene and build up their technique and following in the clubs. In 1992, Stone Temple Pilots signed with Atlantic Records. Their first album, Core, was released on September 29, 1992, later reaching #3 in the Billboard Charts and producing hits including "Sex Type Thing", "Plush", "Wicked Garden", "Creep", and "Dead & Bloated."

In spite of hostile reviews from critics, Stone Temple Pilots continued to gain fans. They toured for four weeks, opening for Rage Against the Machine, and then played a 40-date tour supporting the heavy metal band Megadeth. 1993 brought continued success on the road, with the band headlining a two-and-a-half-month American tour. Around this time, Stone Temple Pilots also performed at benefits for pro-choice organizations.

Also in 1993, the band filmed an episode of MTV Unplugged, where they debuted the song "Big Empty".

Despite commercial success, the music press criticized the band as grunge imitators.^[16] Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote in a 1993 concert review, "The San Diego band has climbed onto the Seattle grunge bandwagon. Its slow songs, with heaving riffs and half-speed vocals, are second-rate Pearl Jam; for variety, there are some midtempo groans that imitate Nirvana."^[17] Additionally, the band is casually mocked in the lyrics of the 1994 Pavement song "Range Life": "Stone Temple Pilots they're elegant bachelors They're foxy to me, are they foxy to you?"

Weiland told Entertainment Weekly in 2008, "It was really painful in the beginning because I just assumed that the critics would understand where we were coming from, that these just weren't dumb rock songs." In a January 1994 Rolling Stone poll, the band was simultaneously voted Best New Band by Rolling Stone's readers and Worst New Band by the magazine's music critics. The following month the group won Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist at the American Music Awards. In March 1994, the group won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Plush."^[18]