SCOTT WEILAND's Autobiography Tentatively Due In March

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS/ex-VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland has set "Not Dead & Not For Sale" as the title of his long-awaited autobiography, tentatively due in March 2011 via the Simon & Schuster imprint Scribner. Weiland, 42, collaborated on the project with David Ritz, the "Sexual Healing" lyricist who has co-written autobiographies for the likes of Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and more recently Don Rickles. The book will reportedly include stories about Weiland's rise to rock stardom, his battles with drugs, and his life now that he's "sober."

In a November 2007 interview with Reuters, Weiland said that he was feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of chronicling his eventful life to date.

"It's a weird thing," he said. "You make a lot of records, write a lot of songs, but all of a sudden you go into a whole different vein, and it's a little bit scary to dive into."

On August 29, Weiland told ExploreMusic host Alan Cross in Toronto that he is working on a Christmas album. He said, "It'll be very traditional. You know, strings, upright bass, jazz horns, piano, and guitar." While he was unsure about the exact track listing for the CD, he revealed that he is recording a reggae version of "The Little Drummer Boy". "I'm sort of picking various versions of these songs, because they've been covered so many times, but my favorite versions — with a little twist," he said.

The upcoming album isn't Weiland's first foray into holiday music. Last December he released his cover version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" — made famous by Judy Garland in "Meet Me in St. Louis" — as a single. He also performed the song on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" back in 2006.

Weiland's rendition of the song is available for purchase via iTunes.

Regarding Weiland For English Laundry, his clothing collaboration with English Laundry designer Christopher Wicks, which features rock-inspired wovens, vests, t-shirts, pants, hats, ties and scarves, Weiland told Cross, "I think that fashion and music really go hand-in-hand. If you look at Elvis Presley through the '60s where it really took off — Jimi Hendrix, THE BEATLES, THE ROLLING STONES, THE WHO — fashion influenced rock and roll, which influenced fashion. Whenever they're synonymous with each other, that's when there's a real possible movement that can happen. The last real movement that happened in rock and roll was grunge. It may not have been the most glamorous of fashion movements, but it was a real movement within rock and roll."

Weiland also told Cross that he hopes to turn his passion for fashion design into a long-term career as he doesn't want to be "a slave to the road" anymore. "I'd like to tour when I want to tour, but I really prefer making albums," he said. "I love performing when I want to, I detest the feeling when it comes down to punching in the clock every night. It's difficult in the rock business for everyone, so I am trying to branch out into other artistic endeavors like fashion."