Velvet Revolver announced yesterday that frontman Scott
Weiland was no longer a member of the rock band because he is not “100 %
committed” to the music and the fans, like the other members are.
Scott Weiland made the announcement of his imminent
departure some two weeks ago, during a Velvet Revolver concert in Glasgow,
Scotland, when he told the crowd they were witnessing something special, namely
the last-ever Velvet Revolver tour, MTV reports on its website.
The announcement made in that intimate situation was
repeated Tuesday, April 1, when the rest of the band, guitarists Slash and Dave
Kushner, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum, released a statement
confirming the split, with further details.
“This band is all about its fans and its music, and Scott
Weiland isn’t 100% committed to either,” Slash said in the statement. “Among
other things, his increasingly erratic onstage behavior and personal problems have
forced us to move on.”
The band’s management, Sanctuary, told MTV that there would
be no further comment, as the press release explained it all.
The band played the final date of its European tour in Amsterdam earlier on
Tuesday.
As for Weiland, his future is looking musical. He is
presumed to be joining the Stone Temple Pilots for a reunion tour this summer.
The reunited band will hold a news conference next week, when they will
probably reveal details concerning the upcoming summer tour.
Velvet Revolver’s website does not include any word of the split.
The band was denied the necessary visas last November, when
they were scheduled to perform four concerts in Tokyo,
Osaka, Nagoya and
Yokohama. A
message posted at the time on their website informed that the “increasingly
tough Japanese immigration officials are taking exception with the backgrounds
of various band members, which have included arrests.”
A week later, Weiland was arrested for DUI after he crashed
his car while driving on a Los Angeles
highway. He pleaded innocent to the charge last month, reports Reuters, and is
free on $40,000 bail. Weiland is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on
Friday.
Velvet Revolver’s most recent album is “Libertad,” produced
by Brendan O’Brien and released in July.