SCOTT WEILAND Officially Fired From STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS have announced they have "officially terminated" their lead singer, Scott Weiland. No reason was given for the split. A spokeswoman said the band has no further comment at this time.

Weiland is getting ready to embark on a solo tour where he will perform songs from the first two STONE TEMPLE PILOTS albums, 1992's "Core" and 1994's "Purple".

"Originally, it was an idea I came up with for STP for the anniversary of 'Core' to do the 'Core' album in its entirety," Weiland told MLive. "The rest of the guys didn't want to do it. So, it was still something that there was a lot of public interest in. Having that said, the idea was brought up to me through management. I talked to the guys in my solo band, THE WILDABOUTS, and they were totally into it, as were the promoters. It worked out."

Weiland and THE WILDABOUTS will kick off the 20-city trek, dubbed the "Purple At The Core Tour", on March 1 in Flint, Michigan. The singer will stop by several U.S. cities during the run, including New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Boston, Houston, and Dallas.

In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Weiland stated about the status of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS: "I think we kind of overplayed ourselves by playing the same set over and over. I think the band needs to take some time off and be creative again. I always felt that our creativity and the growth we made within making records as artists was equally as important as we were as a live band. The transformation from 'Core' to where we ended up before we took that time off, when I started with VELVET REVOLVER, was enormous. I think we need to get back to that. I don't think that touring consistently with a greatest-hits package gets you anywhere. It diminishes things."

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS guitarist Dean DeLeo told New Jersey radio station WRAT in a March 2012 interview that contrary to earlier reports, the quartet was not in the studio recording its seventh studio effort. When asked if the band would work on a new disc anytime soon, DeLeo answered, "Possibly, we're just kind of enjoying home life right now and raising our kids and enjoying the loves of our lives."

Word of a new STP album first surfaced as early as the fall of 2010, just months after the band released its self-titled sixth effort.

That 2010 album came nine years after STP's last record, "Shangri-La-Dee-Da", and followed the band's 2008 reunion after a seven-year hiatus.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS released their first-ever live DVD/Blu-ray last June. Entitled "Alive In The Windy City", the effort contained the band's entire concert from March 27, 2010 at the Riviera Theater in Chicago, Illinois.