Controversy seemed to dog the Stone Temple Pilots at every stage of their career. The band earned a strong following in the early '90s, at the height of the mainstream appropriation of alternative rock, and were often derided as being a pale imitation of bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but with much less substance. Naysayers did little to dissuade the public of the band's talent. Their albums steadily rode up the charts and they played sold-out arenas. But as so many rock stories go, drugs and wild lifestyles came back to haunt the band's frontman, Scott Weiland. STP's success was constantly being put on hold throughout the '90s while Weiland traveled through a revolving door, bouncing between rehab centers and heroin addiction.

The band formed in San Diego in 1992, with Scott Weiland on vocals, Robert DeLeo on guitar, bass and vocals and his brother Dean DeLeo on guitar and Eric Kretz on drums and percussion. Their debut album, Core, was attacked immediately upon release by critics who claimed the band was simply trying to climb on the grunge bandwagon. That didn't put a damper on support from fans, who eagerly bought up the record and sent it to number three on the Billboard 200. Their follow-up, Purple, went straight to number one on the same chart when it came out in 1994.

But by then, Weiland's drug use was getting out of hand. He was arrested for possessing cocaine and heroin, and spent time in rehab centers. After releasing Tiny Music...Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop (which entered the charts at number four), the band was cancelling tour dates because of Weiland's drug relapses. The band's last album was 2001's Shangra-La Dee Da.