STONE TEMPLE PILOTS: 'It's Impossible To Replace SCOTT WEILAND'

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS members Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass) discussed the band's vocalist search in a new interview with Rolling Stone.

"We've been neck-deep in the process of auditioning different singers, and we've got some guys we like, and that process will continue," Dean said.

"We're looking for somebody that fills a lot of criteria — man, woman. Like I said, there's a couple of people we really dig, and we have some more coming in."

Robert added: "Look, we're not trying to replace… It's impossible to replace [late STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer] Scott [Weiland]; it really is. We created something that only the four of us could create, and moreso it's about moving forward, but it's also about someone honoring that, and being able to get their creativity around that. So, like Dean said, there is a lot to ask of someone — someone that can move this band forward."

He continued: "I enjoy still playing the songs that Dean and I wrote. I wanna continue playing those songs, and I think people still wanna hear those songs, and that's what we wanna do.

"The three of us — Eric [Kretz, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS drummer], Dean and I — have something that has… We've been playing music half our lives, and you can't just dismiss that. It's something that I appreciate and I cherish in my life, and I wanna continue doing that."

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS earlier in the month shot down rumors that CREED frontman Scott Stapp has become their new vocalist,. The rumor was apparently semi-started by Stapp himself, who hinted in a radio interview that he had been recruited by STP as the third lead singer in the band's history. But STP tweeted a brief statement on May 2 saying, "Despite recent comments, Scott Stapp is not, nor has he ever been considered as the singer for STP."

A day later, Stapp was announced as the new singer of ART OF ANARCHY, the band which released a self-titled debut album last year that featured Weiland alongside DISTURBED bassist John Moyer and ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.

STP recently held open submissions for a new vocalist after singer Chester Bennington exited the lineup in 2015 to focus on his other band, LINKIN PARK. The band has recently held private auditions with several finalists.

Weiland, whom STP parted ways with in 2002 and again in 2013, died last December.