It’s recently been uncovered that just months before his death, Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland was sued for $20 million by the rock supergroup Art of Anarchy.
In an interesting twist to the story, Weiland was actually a part of the group, handling vocal duties from 2012 until the year of his death, 2015. The company who formed the group, Vice Inc., filed a lawsuit against him in July of that year for essentially a breach of contract.
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According to a report from The Blast, Vice claimed that Weiland refused to comply with terms of agreement and even publicly defamed the band in an interview by saying it was all a “scam from the beginning.”
“I had them send me the files, and I worked in my studio with my engineer, and I wrote the lyrics and the melodies, and I sent them back,” he said in the interview. “I didn’t even know what their names were.”
The band also comprised brothers Jon and Vince Votta, Disturbed bassist John Moyer and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal.
Vice filed the suit in order to recoup the $230,000 they gave him for the project, and also asked for another $20 million in damages. Weiland in turn counter-sued the company and band for unlawful use of his name and likeness for promotional purposes. He asked for $2 million and an injunction from them publicizing with his name attached.
Reportedly, the suit is still ongoing, but there doe not appear to have been any movement on it this year.
Following his death in early Dec. of 2015, Art of Anarchy released the self-titled album that Weiland had done vocals on for free, and then recruited former Creed vocalist Scott Stapp as their new vocalist. They released their first album with him, The Madness, in March of this year.
