SCOTT WEILAND Apologizes To STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Fans

Ex-STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland has apologized to the group's fans who are "caught in the middle" of his very public legal battle with his former bandmates.

STP fired Weiland earlier this year and recruited LINKIN PARK's Chester Bennington to take over.

The group sued Weiland in May, accusing him of using the band's name to advance his solo career, while claiming that his poor performances, late arrivals, and addiction struggles harmed the band's career.

Weiland has countersued, claiming that the band cannot use the STONE TEMPLE PILOTS name without him.

During Scott's solo performance at the Trocadero in Philadelphia this past Saturday night (August 17),a number of fans organized a "Fuck you, Chester" chant. Weiland thanked the fans for the support and added, "It's just a big 'ol planet, a big 'ol universe and in a big circle, it all works out. Anyway… Actually, Chester has his own band that makes a lot of money. I'm not really quite sure why he joined a band who is actually nameless."

He continued: "The problem is I shouldn’t have said anything at all and I apologize to those fans out there who are, feel like they’re caught in the middle of it, cause I sure feel like I'm caught in the middle of it emotionally, and all I want to do is play music, man."

Video and audio footage of Weiland's speech can be seen below.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, featuring Chester Bennington, will release an EP this fall, in conjunction with a North American tour that kicks off on September 4 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and winds down on September 27 in Las Vegas.

Weiland told The Pulse Of Radio that he and Bennington were good friends before this, but he doesn't see Bennington's move as a betrayal. "Yeah, I mean, I've known Chester for a long time," he said. "I got to be pretty close with him on the Family Values tour. I don't think Chester did it in a spiteful way. The brothers DeLeo [Dean, guitar and Robert, bass], they can be pretty persuasive."

Weiland recently embarked on a new run of solo tour dates beginning on August 2 in Los Angeles. As with his other shows earlier in the year, Weiland is playing material from STP's first two albums, "Core" and "Purple", as well as a smattering of covers, solo tunes and other STP tracks.

Weiland's use of STP songs in his solo shows was reportedly one of the reasons why the band sacked and then sued him. The band members claim that this, along with his erratic behavior and substance abuse issues, damaged their career.