Stone Temple Pilots are back, singer was found through audition

Grunge rockers Stone Temple Pilots are back with a new frontman, chosen from 15,000 applicants in an audition following the deaths of their previous two singers. The band with the hard guitar and dark introspection was a driving force in the 1990s grunge scene, led by the voice of Scott Weiland, who died of an overdose on his tour bus in 2015. The troubled Weiland had already been replaced by Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington before his death. Bennington left Stone Temple Pilots on good terms and committed suicide earlier this year. Stone Temple Pilots marked their rebirth on Wednesday with the release of the song “Meadow” and said they expect an album in 2018. The up-tempo guitar track features the voice of Jeff Gutt, the 41-year-old singer of the disbanded California nu-metal band Dry Cell, who had returned to his native Michigan. Stone Temple Pilots had been looking for a new singer and received about 15,000 applications, but Gutt was invited to audition after being introduced to bassist Robert DeLeo at a gig in Michigan. Gutt told Rolling Stone that he had looked to Weiland as a role model as a singer since he first heard Stone Temple Pilots’ debut album, “Core,” in 1992, when the new frontman was a teenager. “So when I walked in that first day, it was crazy. I mean, you dream about these things,” he told the magazine. Guitarist Dean DeLeo, the bassist’s brother, told Rolling Stone that Gutt was well equipped to sing Weiland’s parts and also move the band forward musically. “He’s got that baritone and he can also dive into the world of the tenor. He’s a real singer,” DeLeo said. Gutt found his television audience on the US version of the talent show “The X Factor” with a deep, metallic-sounding interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.