STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Slams Highly Suspect Singer For Turning Them Down

When STONE TEMPLE PILOTS revealed last November that singer Chester Bennington was leaving the band, HIGHLY SUSPECT frontman Johnny Stevens tweeted that he had been contacted by STP guitarist Dean DeLeo about the gig and had turned it down. Now in an interview with Detroit radio station WRIF, Dean said that things went down a different way.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, he explained: “The way John tells it is not actually what went down. I did reach out to John. We spoke, and I think John is an immense talent. Great, great singer. But I did not offer him a gig. I merely asked if he was interested in possibly getting in a room, and God bless him, he stuck to his guns, and he had the courage and the confidence to stick with his band, and you know, those guys are up for a couple of Grammys.”

Dean added: “One thing that really saddened me about that is it was very early on. It was all the way back in August, when I spoke to John, man to man. You know, I don’t use that term loosely. Man to man I asked for his confidentiality in this, and well, it shows you what kind of man he is.”

HIGHLY SUSPECT‘s current single, “Bloodfeather”, is No. 9 on the rock radio chart. It follows up their first Top 5 single, “Lydia”. Both songs are taken from the band’s 2015 sophomore effort, “Mister Asylum”.

The band is nominated for two prizes at the 58th annual Grammy Awards: “Mister Asylum” is nominated for “Best Rock Album” while “Lydia” is up for “Best Rock Song”.

STP is holding open auditions for a new lead vocalist following the departure of Bennington and the death last December of original frontman Scott Weiland.

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