Scott Weiland Cause of Death: Accidental Overdose
Scott Weiland died of an accidental overdose of cocaine, ethanol and methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA). The Hennepin County Medical Examiner in Minneapolis, near where the former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman died, confirmed the news Friday. The office also noted Weiland’s atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, history of asthma and multi-substance dependence
The singer was found dead on December 3rd after passing away in his sleep on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota. He had been on the road with his new backing band the Wildabouts and was scheduled to play the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina, Minnesota that day but the show was canceled that day.
The day after his death, Bloomington police revealed that they had discovered a small quantity of cocaine in the tour bus bedroom where Weiland’s body was found. The vocalist had a long, public problem with addiction. Authorities also reported that they’d arrested Wildabouts bassist Tommy Black for allegedly possessing cocaine. He was released from jail a day later.
After news of Weiland’s death broke, his Stone Temple Pilots bandmates released a poignant open letter to him. “The memories are many, and they run deep for us,” they wrote. “We know amidst the good and the bad you struggled, time and time again. It’s what made you who you were. Part of that gift was part of your curse.”
His Velvet Revolver bandmates also posted a remembrance to bassist Duff McKagan’s Facebook page. “We experienced a good chunk of life with Scott and, even in his darkest times, we all had hope and love for him,” they wrote. “His artistry will live on, of that, there is no doubt.” Drummer Matt Sorum also spoke with Sirius XM’s Matt Pinfield shortly after the vocalist’s death calling him the “real deal.”
Mary Forsberg Weiland, the singer’s ex and mother of his two children, wrote an opinion piece for Rolling Stone the week after his death, urging fans to refrain from deifying him. “Our hope for Scott has died, but there is still hope for others,” she wrote. “Let’s choose to make this the first time we don’t glorify this tragedy with talk of rock & roll and the demons that, by the way, don’t have to come with it. Skip the depressing T-shirt with ‘1967 – 2015’ on it – use the money to take a kid to a ballgame or out for ice cream.”
Speaking to Weiland’s talents, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan also wrote a tribute to the singer on his band’s official website. “If you asked me who I truly believed were the great voices of our generation, I’d say it were he, Layne [Staley], and Kurt [Cobain],” he wrote. “So it goes beyond tragedy to say it is we who lost them, and not the other way round.”