Stone Temple Pilots are an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in the late 1980s. The classic lineup consisted of vocalist Scott Weiland, brothers Dean DeLeo on guitar and Robert DeLeo on bass, and drummer Eric Kretz. Initially performing as Mighty Joe Young, the group changed its name before signing with Atlantic Records in 1992. Their music combined hard rock, grunge, psychedelic influences, classic rock, and pop songwriting, a broad approach that helped them become one of the most commercially successful bands associated with the alternative rock boom of the 1990s.
The band's debut album, Core, was released in September 1992. Built around heavy guitar riffs, dramatic vocals, and memorable choruses, it produced the singles "Sex Type Thing," "Wicked Garden," "Creep," and "Plush." The latter became the group's defining early hit, receiving extensive radio and MTV exposure and winning the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. Although critics sometimes accused Stone Temple Pilots of following trends established by Seattle bands, Core demonstrated the group's particular strengths: polished arrangements, melodic hooks, and a willingness to move between aggression and vulnerability.
Stone Temple Pilots reached their commercial peak with Purple in 1994. The album debuted at number one in the United States and included "Vasoline," "Big Empty," and "Interstate Love Song." "Interstate Love Song" became one of the era's most enduring alternative rock singles, pairing a fluid guitar figure with lyrics about dishonesty and emotional disconnection. The band's visual identity also became an important part of its success. Videos for songs such as "Plush," "Vasoline," and "Interstate Love Song" were heavily featured on MTV, helping establish the group as a major presence in music television.
With Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop in 1996, the band moved away from the straightforward heaviness of its first records. The album introduced brighter textures, glam rock references, psychedelic colors, and more varied vocal performances from Weiland. Tracks including "Big Bang Baby," "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart," and "Lady Picture Show" showed a band interested in reinvention rather than simply repeating its earlier formula. Later releases, including No. 4 in 1999 and Shangri-La Dee Da in 2001, continued to balance radio-ready songwriting with heavier and more experimental material.
Internal tensions and Weiland's struggles with addiction contributed to the band's breakup in 2003. During the hiatus, the DeLeo brothers and Kretz pursued other projects, while Weiland joined Velvet Revolver. Stone Temple Pilots reunited in 2008 and released a self-titled album in 2010. Weiland was dismissed from the band in 2013, after which Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington performed with the group and appeared on the High Rise EP. Bennington left in 2015, and Weiland died later that year.
In 2017, Jeff Gutt was introduced as the band's new lead vocalist. This lineup released another self-titled album in 2018, followed by Perdida in 2020, an acoustic-leaning record that emphasized subdued arrangements and reflective songwriting. Stone Temple Pilots' lasting reputation rests on their ability to combine the weight of hard rock with strong melodies and stylistic flexibility, qualities that carried them beyond the grunge era and made their catalog influential to later alternative rock bands.