More than a few of us were taken aback when Stone Temple Pilots announced that Linkin park vocalist Chester Bennington would be stepping in to replace the band’s iconic frontman Scott Weiland following his departure from the band.
Of course, Bennington left the band a couple of years later, only weeks before Weiland was found dead on his tour bus during a run of solo shows. The band has been inactive since, but it seems they’re ready to get back together with a new singer – and have someone locked in.
As Alternative Nation reports, the former guitarist of Filter, Geno Lenardo, has now revealed that the band have not only decided on a new singer, but that he’s seen the new lineup perform together.
“Feeling blessed I just got to see my friends from Stone Temple Pilots play a really tight set of classics,” he said following his sneak peek, before adding “I can’t comment on who’s singing but I can tell you he is one of the finest musicians and singers I’ve ever known.”
When will we find out, then? “STP will reveal it in their own time,” Lenardo says, although Alternative Nation have strongly suggested that the singer will in fact be two-time X-Factor contestant Jeff Gutt, who was outed as a strong possibility last year and has worked with Lenardo in the past.
All we can say is that, while we feel for a group of musos who aren’t ready to step away from the band they’ve lived with for a quarter of a decade, there really is no replacement for Weiland who, despite his many issues, will go down in history as one of the absolute greatest frontmen of all time.
Even if his potential replacement can belt out a rock anthem like this:
