Many music fans were surprised last weekend when Stone Temple Pilots not only played a secret gig with Linkin Park's Chester Bennington as their new singer at the KROQ Weenie Roast in Los Angeles, but also released a new song called 'Out of Time.' But perhaps no one was more surprised than original STP frontman Scott Weiland, who was apparently fired from the band earlier this year.

In a Facebook post late Friday night (May 24), Weiland wrote an open letter to his fans condemning his ex-bandmates for continuing on with the name Stone Temple Pilots with a new frontman. Weiland claims the band does not have the "legal right" to call themselves Stone Temple Pilots, as he still considers himself a member of the band. However, he also stressed that he has no issue with Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo and Eric Kretz performing with Bennington, as long as they don't present themselves as Stone Temple Pilots.

Weiland's entire letter reads as follows:

A letter to my fans,

Like everybody else out there, I read about my band, Stone Temple Pilots, and their recent performance this past weekend with a new singer. To tell you the truth, it took me by surprise. And it hurt.

But the band that played last weekend was not Stone Temple Pilots and it was wrong of them to present themselves as that.

First of all they don't have the legal right to call themselves STP because I'm still a member of the band. And more importantly, they don't have the ethical right to call themselves Stone Temple Pilots because it's misleading and dishonest to the millions of fans that have followed us for so many years.

When I tour on my own, it's never as Stone Temple Pilots. It's as Scott Weiland. The fans deserve to know what they're getting.

Like any band that's stood the test of time and made music for more than two decades, STP had a special alchemy - the four of us together were greater than any one of us apart. So if my former bandmates want to tour with a new singer, that's their prerogative.

I don't give a f--- what they call themselves, but it's not Stone Temple Pilots.
And so I say to you, our fans, I'll see you out there on the road this summer where I'm touring as "Scott Weiland" with my band The Wildabouts. But don't give up on STP. I know I haven't.

~ Scott

Meanwhile, around the same time Weiland's letter was posted, news surfaced that the DeLeo brothers and Kretz have sued Weiland, alleging the singer has misused the band's name, attempted to sabotage their tour and has tried to stifle the band's attempt to release their new single with Bennington. See the full details on the lawsuit by clicking the button below:

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