By this point, you have probably heard about the death of the long-troubled former lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, Scott Weiland, at the age of 48. Naturally, with an artist who had this much of an impact and influence on the world of rock music, his death has led to an outpouring of condolences and remembrances from his contemporaries. One of the few ‘90s rock legends who has not died before his time is Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, and Corgan is never one to hold back his words, so he has written a brief essay upon the death of Weiland over at the Smashing Pumpkins’ website.
Now, while Corgan has not always covered himself in glory with his word choices and rhetoric, this particular piece, entitled “In Honour of Scott Weiland,” is quite restrained and somber, and perhaps even touching. While Pavement positioned themselves against both the Pumpkins and the Pilots in their song “Range Life,” Corgan admits that he, too, had his reservations about Weiland, and the meteoric rise the Stone Temple Pilots had. However, he admits that he came around, eventually, and in the piece proclaims Weiland one of the best vocalists of his era.
Corgan ends the piece saying, “So it goes beyond tragedy to say it is we who lost them, and not the other way round…” Corgan has seen a lot of his contemporaries from the ’90s pass away, and even if he is able to articulate his feelings this well, hopefully it will be the last time he has to for a good while.
