Matt Sorum Remembers ‘Real Deal’ Scott Weiland

Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum reminisced about Scott Weiland and his time with the singer in a new interview recorded just days after Weiland’s death at the age of 48. In a long chat with Sirius XM’s Matt Pinfield, an emotional Sorum said of his former band mate, “In the end, I just want the world to know that I feel like I made my peace with him.”

Sorum says he and Duff McKagan were about to go to dinner and a Gary Clark Jr. concert when they learned of Weiland’s death. The two canceled their initial plans in order to reflect about their time with Weiland. Velvet Revolver band mates previously released a statement about the former Stone Temple Pilots vocalist. “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.

“I don’t know how I felt initially because I can’t say it was a shock, but I definitely wasn’t expecting it, because I felt Scott was gonna be here longer than this,” Sorum told Sirius XM’s Lithium. “People know that in the end, we had our differences and the band split up, but the wave of emotions that you feel is more like a family member; it’s like if you had a family member that maybe you didn’t get along with great but you still loved them, so that’s the feeling.”

Sorum also called working with Weiland in Velvet Revolver the “highlight” of his career. “Being in a band, obviously in my career, has never been a perfect ride, but the reality of it is rock and roll is never a perfect ride, real rock and roll,” Sorum said. “And I think Scott Weiland was that guy. He was complicated, yes, but the artistry was magnificent.”

Sorum later reminisced about the grueling auditions for the lead singer vacancy in Velvet Revolver and how Weiland blew his future band mates away with his abilities. “When Scott Weiland came in, it was like magic. All of a sudden, here’s this guy that can write a melody in about five minutes, and write a lyric, and you have a song that was contemporary,” Sorum said. “I just looked at Slash and Duff and I said, ‘There’s your guy. Scott Weiland. Rock star. The real deal.’

“These characters that we’ve lost through the ages, their soul and their heart and everything they’ve felt in their life goes into their music, and they do that for us,” Sorum added.

Listen to Sorum’s conversation with Pinfield below: