REVOLVER LOAD UP - Weiland and co set British dates:

The past month has seen the quintet of vocalist Scott Weiland, guitarists Slash and Dave Kushner, Bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum enjoying two moments of elation. Firstly they topped the billboard chart, their debut album ‘Contraband’ achieving the biggest ever first week sales of a debut album from a rock act in American chart history (shifting 256,264 copies). Secondly – and perhaps more significantly – Weiland stayed out of jail.

The former STP singer received a three – year probationary sentence having pleased ‘no contest’ to charges of driving under the influence of narcotics. Although the 36- year-old Weiland escaped imprisonment, he will have to undergo another period of drug rehabilitation. Scott is already under going legally enforced rehab, with seven months to go ‘til its conclusion. The two courses will run concurrently. The livewire front man has a record of drug- related arrests, and in 1999 served a prison term for violating probation on a previous drug arrest and failing to complete a rehabilitation programme.

The singer, recently reunited at home with his wife and children claims that he has been clean and sober for over eight months.

Furthermore, his attorney Anthony Brooklier insists that there were no illegal drugs or alcohol in his system on the night of the arrest last October. “He was taking medication prescribed by his physician.” Claims Brroklier.
Weiland nevertheless accepted the courts decision and paid a $390 fine, and financed repairs to a parked van that was damaged in the accident. “Now that this is behind me, I will be able to set the record straight.” He said upon leaving court.

Exasperated by the media’s coverage of his misdemeanours, Weiland has cancelled all future interviews following his latest fall out with a journalist. This time his ire falls upon Andy Langer of REVOLVER magazine, a “fucking kiss-ass pussy sycophant bitch” who the singer believes said one thing to his face and wrote another. Challenging the reporter to a fight in an open letter, Scott roared: “My studio’s in Burbank, the same place where you met me, interviewed me, and kissed my ass. Five days a week, I’ll be there, bitch!” There was also a PS: “Oh by the way, you wanna know about fucking drugs? Fucking try them yourself!”

Slash is supportive of his singer’s stonewalling of the press. “I totally understand it, because it’s like we’re out there and he’s pulling it off and the last thing he wants to hear about is (what happened) six months or two years ago or three years ago.” Said the former Guns N Roses guitarist, who recently became the father of his second child, Cash Anthony Hudson. “The rest of us all have pretty sordid pasts as well- we just never got caught.”