Velvet Revolver was a supergroup consisting largely of members of Guns N' Roses, but with Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots at the vocal helm. The band's first single, "Slither," made a decent splash, reaching #56 in 2004 and winning a Grammy for Hard Rock Performance. Hopes were high that the band had even better tricks up their talented sleeves, but those hopes were dashed when the follow-up single, "Fall To Pieces," stalled at #67 and became their final chart appearance. No further singles charted and the band's sophomore release, "Libertad," drew little interest. Weiland then left to return to STP. The aptly titled "The Last Fight" was the second single from "Libertad."
In the 80s, STP referred to a motor oil. In the 90s, it referred to Stone Temple Pilots. STP came soaring out of San Diego at the dawn of grunge as a gritty hard rock band that could also show grace when unplugged. Their breakthrough hit was "Plush," which went to #39 in 1993 and won them a Grammy for Hard Rock Performance. STP continued to dominate the airwaves and make chart appearances throughout the decade, most notably with "Interstate Love Song," which gave them their biggest hit at #18 in 1994. In 2000, they had their last chart appearance when "Sour Girl" peaked at #78. The band took a break, which allowed members to explore other projects. Lead singer Scott Weiland joined the supergroup Velvet Revolver with members of Guns N' Roses while the DeLeo brothers of STP formed Army of Anyone with Filter vocalist Richard Patrick. Weiland also fronted a side project called The Magnificent Bastards in the mid-90s, which had a minor hit in 1995 with "Mockingbird Girl" (#66) from the movie Tank Girl. STP reunited in 2008 and released their 6th record in 2010, which was a self-titled effort. It is vastly underrated, and is the record from which "Cinnamon" can be found. The record shows matured and seasoned songwriting with just enough of a shout out to their harder edged past. Weiland was replaced in 2013 with Chester Bennington of Linkin Park but sadly both died early - Weiland passed away in 2015 from a drug overdose and Bennington in 2017 from suicide. The band selected Jeff Gutt from an online audition to be their new lead singer. Weiland also released three diverse solo records and was fronting a new band called The Wildabouts at the time of his death. The versatile singer and creative lyricist is remembered as one of the signature vocalists of the era.
Scott Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots helped define the music of the 90s. They exploded onto the scene in 1993 with "Plush", which earned them a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, and had a #1 hit record with their sophomore effort, "Purple". After a couple more successful albums, the band split up and Weiland made some solo records and fronted the supergroup Velvet Revolver. STP got back together with Weiland for a few more years, but his continued problems with substance abuse drove the band apart again. Sadly, Weiland has passed away at the age of 48. One of the band's last singles was also one of their best. But the musical landscape had shifted when this came out in 2001, so it failed to chart on the Billboard Top 100.
