Following the tragic death of their original singer Scott Weiland in 2016, and then his replacement Chester Bennington earlier this year, many rightfully wondered if Stone Temple Pilots had reached the end of the road. Despite the recent losses however, the band felt that they had to carry on, and on Tuesday night, after a round of heavy speculation, they finally revealed their new singer at a special gig at the Troubadour in Hollywood on Tuesday night.
Jeff Gutt, the former X-Factor contestant, has been tapped by STP to fill the shoes walked in by Weiland and Bennington. “No one will ever fill Scott’s shoes and I’m not trying to, he’s a legend. But these songs deserve to be performed and people want to hear them. I’m just honored that the guys chose me to help them continue to build this band’s legacy,” Gutt said. “We wanted someone who would not only do our earlier songs justice, but would also write new songs and carve out a different path forward with us. It took some time, but we found our guy,” guitarist Dean DeLeo said.
In what must come as even better news for Stone Temple Pilots fans, the band has decided to push beyond becoming a legacy road act, and has been actively working on a new album which they aim to put out in the Spring of 2018. “The chemistry was there from the start, and Jeff kept coming up with one great melody after another. We ended up finishing 14 songs, which is the most that Stone Temple Pilots has ever recorded for an album,” Kretz said.
You can check out the band’s first new track with Gutt, a song called “Meadow” below.
