The surviving members of Stone Temple Pilots have been searching for a new lead singer to fill the void left by the death of Scott Weiland and the departure of Chester Bennington. The band recently held an open audition, and it looks like they’ve now found their man. Not only that, but he shares the same first name as STP’s founding frontman, and has experience fronting his own popular rock band.
Yep, apparently Scott Stapp is the new singer of Stone Temple Pilots. Update: No, he’s not. Rather, Stapp is replacing Weiland in the hard rock supergroup Art of Anarchy.
During an appearance on Atlanta radio program Bailey and Southside on Monday morning, the Creed frontman teased his new gig. “I’ve been working on a new album with a new group of guys,” Stapp said. “Guys from some pretty well-known rock bands that you guys will know.”
“This other band I’m jamming with is its own band with its own band name,” Stapp added. “I can’t really share the details about it, but there’s a lot of good things going on that I can’t tell you till later in June when we’ll be making the announcement.”
(Read: Closing Time: Why More Bands Need to Say Farewell)
When one of the show’s hosts responded, “Hold on for a second, did you get the gig for STP?”, Stapp said, “I can’t say man, I can’t say … I can’t confirm or deny.” Further pressed, Stapp added, “I will tell you this, there is a 6 degree separation connection between this new project and the band you mentioned.” One of the show’s host responded, “Is it the tour bus? Because Weiland actually died on the tour bus you used to tour on,” to which Stapp replied, “Dude you are just on point aren’t you?”
As Alternative Nation points out, Bailey and Southside were the same program to break news of Axl Rose joining Guns N’ Roses. It’s also true that Stapp toured in the same bus used by Weiland at the time of his death.
We’ve reached out to representatives for STP and Stapp and will let you know when we hear back. Update: A representative for Stapp responded, “Right now Scott is busy on his solo tour. His next project will be announced in June.” Meanwhile, STP has disputed the rumor outright.
