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This powerhouse rock quartet formed in 1990, the peak of the "Grunge" era, alongside such well known names as "Soundgarden", "Alice in Chains", and "Pearl Jam". As heavy as lead and as diverse as forerunners "Led Zeppelin", (also Atlantic Records), the band have carved their name, (in stone?), into the annals of the rock genre. Yet surprisingly, so far, they only have 6 studio albums released to date.

Biography

1990 - Scott Welland, (vocals), and Robert DeLeo, (Bass), meet for the first time at a "Black Flag" concert in Long Beach, CA. As the story goes, they were allegedly dating the same woman at the time !! Once they had got over the formalities, they both decided a band would be good and moved to Texas. Robert's brother, Dean played Guitar, and Eric Kretz joined them on drums.

1992 - Playing under the name "Mighty Joe Young", they were spotted at the "Whisky" club in L.A, California. Don Mullen, a booking agent for Triad Artists, helped them gain a record deal with Atlantic Records in April this year. The band were also due for a name change, (as "Mighty Joe Young" was already taken), and after seeing an STP Motor Oil Company logo, they decided to use the acronym with the name....wait for it...Shirley Temple's Pussy !! However, Atlantic Records did not like this too much, so they decided STP would be "Stone Temple Pilots".

The band joined forces with the brilliant producer Brenden O'Brien, and released their debut album, "Core" in September 92. This was a powerhouse rock album and spawned hit singles "Plush", "Wicked Garden", and "Sex type thing". Yet the album went much unnoticed, despite MTV airplay.

1993 - STP join "Megadeath" on their European tour, and rejecting the opportunity to support "Aerosmith" ? They decide to concentrate on smaller venues instead.

1994 - STP release their second studio album. "Purple", which entered the billboard chart at number one! and stayed there for several weeks. This was despite ongoing critical reviews calling STP, "Pearl Jam" rip-offs, (Welland's vocal style has often been likened to that of Ed Vedder of Pearl Jam).

1995 - Scott Welland plays with splinter group, "The Magnificent Bastards", and also begins his long struggle with drug addiction. He is arrested for possession of Heroine and Cocaine, and was sentenced to serve 12 months at a drugs rehabilitation program.

1996 - STP release "Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop", which entered the charts at number 4. Yet the band had to cancel summer tour dates as Scott Welland relapsed, and subsequently returned to drugs rehab.

1998 - The band went their separate ways with Welland recording his solo album, "12 Bar Blues", whilst the rest of STP recruited Dave Coutts on vocals to record "Talk Show". Things did not look so good for STP, yet despite expectations, they surprised fans and critics alike and re-joined to record their fourth studio album.

1999 - Saw the release of "No4". Shortly after release however, Welland was again arrested for a parole violation from an earlier conviction, and sentenced to a year in an L.A county jail.

2001 - STP release "Shangri-La Dee Da"

2003 - November sees the release of "Thankyou", a greatest hits collection, both on CD only and DVD+CD. Included are 13 tracks from previous albums, with an acoustic version of "Plush", and a new track entitled, "All in the suit that you wear".

2004 - Scott Welland joins "Velvet Revolver" with messrs Slash, Duff, and Matt Sorum (ex "Guns'N'Roses"), and release their debut album on BMG records. Despite the excellent single release "Slither", the album was not a major hit.

2005 - To date STP have not officially split, although there are no immediate plans for any new projects at this time.

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