Weiland Slashed from Velvet Revolver

I was originally going to devote this entry to all the press Chris Cornell has gotten in the last week after a certain American Idol performance, but Idolator and WMMR picked up this story late yesterday and its more relevant. After a very public battle online and in concert between the members of Velvet Revolver/Guns N Roses and singer Scott Weiland, the band and its management yesterday announced that Scott Weiland was no longer a member of the supergroup. So says Slash:

"This band is all about its fans and its music and Scott Weiland isn't 100% committed to either...Among other things, his increasingly erratic on-stage behavior and personal problems have forced us to move on."

The on-stage behavior in question is Weiland's statement at a recent concert that this would be the band's last tour. Those remarks sparked a battle between Weiland, Slash and bassist Duff McKagan, as well as some nasty statements about ego and jealousy from drummer Matt Sorum. Slash has promised that Velvet Revolver will continue with a new lead singer, preferably one that doesn't go into rehab every 14 months.

Anyone worried about where Weiland will get his next meal/heroin fix can rest easy. A short time ago Weiland's original band Stone Temple Pilots announced it was reuniting and will be playing a number of dates this year. Based on the number of canceled VR dates because of Weilands problems, all tickets for all STP shows will not go on sale until one hour before the show so as to verify Weiland will actually be there.

Memo to American Idol contestant David Cook; VLM humbly recommends tanking this season and auditioning for the Velvet Revolver vacancy.

(Video below is Cook's performance of Chris Cornell's take on "Billie Jean"...more on Cornell later today)

Velvet Revolver - The Last Fight [iTunes]

==TJ==