Scott Weiland Cleared in Drug Case

A judge in Pasadena, California, court dismissed a drug charge Tuesday against Scott Weiland, the thirty-seven-year-old Velvet Revolver singer, because he successfully completed a required rehab program. This was related to the fourth drug-related arrest, in May of 2003, for the singer whose nearly decade-long struggle with heroin addiction led to the breakup of his previous band, Stone Temple Pilots, and months in prison in 1999.

Weiland was arrested in this instance when the car in which he was a passenger was pulled over just after midnight in Burbank, California, during a routine traffic stop. Heroin and cocaine were discovered, leading to a charge of suspicion of drug possession. The singer faced drug charges twice before in California, in 1995 and 1997, and once in New York, in 1998. At the time of his 2003 arrest, the singer had just formed the with former Guns n' Roses members Slash and Duff McKagan that would become Velvet Revolver.

Initially sentenced to three years' probation -- including inpatient rehab treatment, counseling, Alcoholics Anonymous attendance and random drug testing -- Weiland was arrested for driving under the influence just two months later. He was ordered to re-enter a live-in rehab program but was allowed to leave the center for a few hours a day to complete recording Velvet Revolver's debut, Contraband.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter