Chester Bennington Quits Stone Temple Pilots

Famed 1990’s American rock band Stone Temple Pilots and Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington have splits after almost three years of playing music together.

Chester Bennington Quits With Stone Temple Pilots

The reasons for the split was for Bennington to solely focus on Linkin Park and his family. Bennington’s official statement reads:

“The last few years have been an amazing experience… I got to create and perform with one of the greatest rock bands of our generation, that had so much influence on me growing up. With the amount of time STP deserves, in addition to being in Linkin Park, and with the needs of my family, one of them always seems to fall short. Going in to this, the four of us… Robert, Eric, Dean and myself knew what we were up against. We decided in due fairness to friends, fans and the legacy of STP that it needs more than time was allowing me. And in all fairness to my bandmates in Linkin Park, as well as to myself and to my family, I’m going to focus solely on Linkin Park so I can contribute 100%. It’s been an amazing experience and a dream come true, and I look forward to the future of both STP and Linkin Park.”

STP members Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo and Eric Kretz, also came out with a statement noting the split was mutual and there were no hard feelings when the decision was made. Towards the end of the statement, they said they are auditioning new singers for new material they have recorded. The official statement reads:

“What an amazing and beautiful few years we’ve all had together. It was our honor to play and see all of you recently on tour. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time together with Chester not only professionally, but even more so on a personal level. Sadly, it was evident that scheduling and time was working against us. Within this, there is a new beginning. There is an abundance of new music written, some of which is already recorded. We have had the fortune of playing with some very talented singers over the last few months and will continue to do so until each of us feels and knows when the right person arrives.”

Bennington took over vocal duties in 2013 after original vocalist Scott Weiland was in-and-out of the band for years because of drug instances that permanently kicked him out of the band in 2012. The last STP lineup with Bennington saw an EP being released called High Rise.

Photo: LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 09: Singer Chester Bennington of Linkin Park performs onstage during Rock in Rio USA at the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds on May 9, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)