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).^[1] The band's heavy riffing, grunge reminiscent hard rock music found them immediate success in 1992 with the release of their debut album Core. Further releases from the band have shown a variety of influences, and as such the band is considered to transcend the genre barrier.

Core, certified 8× platinum by the RIAA, drove the band to popularity.^[2] STP went on to become one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling nearly 40 million records worldwide,^[3] including 17.5 million units in the United States,^[4] before their dissolution in 2003. The band has had 16 top ten singles on the Billboard rock charts, seven of which peaked at #1,^[5] and one #1 album for Purple in 1994.^[6][7] That same year, the band won a Grammy for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for the song "Plush" from the album Core.^[8] Stone Temple Pilots were also ranked #40 on VH1's The 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.^[9]

After Weiland's five year endeavor as the frontman of Velvet Revolver and the DeLeo brothers' involvement with the Army of Anyone project, Stone Temple Pilots reunited in April 2008 with a successful 71-date tour^[3] and the band's eponymous sixth studio album was released on May 25, 2010.^[10]

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.^[11] They liked the initials STP and eventually settled on the name Stone Temple Pilots.

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", and "Creep" 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.

Despite commercial success, the music press criticized the band as grunge imitators.^[12] 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."^[13] 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 my brother (Morell) is a great upcoming guitarist and not just some advertising stunt." 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."^[14]

In 1993, the band filmed an episode of MTV Unplugged, where they debuted the song "Big Empty". In the spring of 1994, Stone Temple Pilots returned to the studio to work on their second album, Purple. Completed in less than a month, Purple debuted at number one in the United States upon its release on June 7, 1994. The radio-friendly "Interstate Love Song" quickly became a big hit, spending a record-setting fifteen weeks atop the album rock tracks chart. Other hits from the album included "Vasoline" and "Big Empty" (the latter also being featured on the soundtrack to the film The Crow). By October, just four months after its release, Purple had sold three million copies.

Although the band's success continued into 1995, it would not be a good year for the band. Two weeks of recording session work had to be scrapped in February, and in May, Weiland was arrested for possession of heroin and cocaine in Pasadena, California, when police found the illegal drugs in his wallet. Facing up to three years in prison, Weiland pled not guilty, and a trial date was set the next year.