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Cocaine Found In Tour Bus Room Where Scott Weiland's Body Was Discovered
Scott Weiland (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
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Authorities found cocaine in the room on the tour bus where Scott Weiland was found dead on Thursday night. They also arrested the singer's bandmate on drug charges.
"Detectives collected several items of evidence from inside the tour bus, [including] a small quantity of suspected controlled substance that field-tested positive as cocaine, in the bedroom where Mr. Weiland was located," the Bloomington Police Department in Minnesota said in a statement today, according to the L.A. Times.
The 48-year old singer—the former frontman for Stone Temple Pilots (STP) and Velvet Revolver—was on tour with his current band, Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts, in Bloomington when he was found dead in his bus. His agent told NBC News that Weiland died in his sleep. His band was supposed to perform at the Medina Ballroom that night, but the show was cancelled.
Although Weiland has had a long history of battling substance abuse, it's not clear at this moment what caused his death. TMZ reports that "legendary musicians" were worried Weiland was back doing crack cocaine and and drinking heavily in the days leading up to his death. However, sources told the outlet that Weiland was not doing heroin, a drug he battled much of his life.
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Bloomington police and the Hennepin County medical examiner's office told the Times that they are investigating his death and will perform an autopsy.
While detectives were searching the tour bus, they also found "an additional small quantity of suspected controlled substance that field-tested positive as cocaine" in the room that was occupied by Wildabouts' 47-year-old bassist, Thomas Delton Black of Studio City, according to the statement. Black was arrested and is being held pending a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance.
Weiland formed STP in the late '80s, releasing hits like "Plush" and "Creep," before they broke up in 2003. After that, Weiland became a part of supergroup Velvet Revolver with former members of Guns N' Roses including Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. He left the band to reunite with STP in 2008, going on a world tour, but his bandmates fired him in 2013, saying he was battling substance abuse. Linkin Park's Chester Bennington took over Weiland's singing role in the band, though he announced last month that he was splitting from the group so he could focus more on Linkin Park.
STP posted a statement on Facebook about Weiland's death today, writing he was "gifted beyond words."
Dear Scott,Let us start by saying thank you for sharing your life with us. Together we crafted a legacy of music...
Posted by Stone Temple Pilots on Friday, December 4, 2015
McKagen posted on Facebook on behalf of Velvet Revolver today as well:
We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of our old friend and bandmate, Scott Weiland. We experienced a good chunk...
Posted by Duff McKagan on Friday, December 4, 2015
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