Reuters - Velvet Revolver splits with rocker Scott Weiland

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Velvet Revolver splits with rocker Scott Weiland

Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 10:59PM UTC

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Four founding members of the rock
band Velvet Revolver said on Tuesday they were splitting with
the group's troubled singer, Scott Weiland, citing his
"increasingly erratic" behavior.

The announcement came in a terse statement from the group's
management company as Weiland, 40, and his recently reunited
original band, Stone Temple Pilots, were set next week to
announce plans for a highly anticipated summer tour.

The Pilots, also known by their acronym, STP, already have
confirmed a handful of upcoming dates, beginning with the Rock
on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio, on May 17-18.

For Weiland, whose career has long been overshadowed by
heroin addiction, Rock on the Range will mark his first show
with STP since the band played 13 concerts to promote its last
album of new material, 2001's "Shangri-La Dee Da."

Following the breakup of STP, Weiland was welcomed as lead
singer for Velvet Revolver, the newly formed grunge rock band
founded by three former members of Guns N' Roses -- guitarist
Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum -- along
with second guitarist Dave Kushner.

Velvet Revolver was confronted from the start with
Weiland's drug and legal problems as it juggled performance
schedules, recording sessions and promotional work to
accommodate his court dates and rehab.

Last month, Weiland pleaded innocent to a charge of driving
under the influence of drugs stemming from his arrest on a Los
Angeles freeway ramp in November. He is free on $40,000 bail
and is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on Friday.

A public feud between Weiland and Velvet Revolver's drummer
already had cast doubt on the band's future when the statement
on behalf of Sorum, Slash, McKagan and Kushner was issued under
the headline "Velvet Revolver to Part Ways with Singer."

"This band is all about its fans and its music, and Scott
Weiland isn't 100% committed to either," Slash was quoted as
saying. "Among other things, his increasingly erratic on-stage
behavior and personal problems have forced us to move on."

There was no immediate comment from Weiland, Stone Temple
Pilots or their representatives.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb)