His voice had the unusual ability to convey both aggressive muscularity and profound vulnerability. Scott Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots were icons of my adolescence. Personally, my memory of Mr. Weiland will always be inextricably linked with “Plush,” that initial hit single which, upon first listen, instantly captivated me and thousands of other kids like me. During my high school days, “Plush” was elevated to the highest sonic status possible, joining Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and Pearl Jam’s” Black” as an essential component of our football team’s pre-game locker-room pump-up playlist.
So it was with shock and sadness that I read in the New York Times this morning that Weiland had “died in his sleep” on Thursday during a tour stop in Bloomington, MN. He was 48.
