Scott Weiland’s ex-wife pens candid essay: He ‘died a long time ago’

WHILE tributes flow after the death of Stone Temple Pilots’ Scott Weiland, his ex-wife describes a “paranoid man who couldn’t remember his own lyrics”.

Dead rocker’s ex: He ‘died a long time ago’

WHEN news came last week about the death of Scott Weiland, the award-winning lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, fans and industry peers were shocked.

Tributes for what some called a legend of grunge music flowed in.

But in a candid essay penned for Rolling Stone magazine, Mary Forsberg Weiland — Weiland’s second wife and the mother of his two children, 15-year-old Noah and 13-year-old Lucy — says the 48-year-old had died a long time ago.

“December 3rd, 2015 is not the day Scott Weiland died,” her essay begins. “It is the official day the public will use to mourn him, and it was the last day he could be propped up in front of a microphone for the financial benefit or enjoyment of others.

“The outpouring of condolences and prayers offered to our children, Noah and Lucy, has been overwhelming, appreciated and even comforting. But the truth is, like so many other kids, they lost their father years ago. What they truly lost on December 3rd was hope.”

While Forsberg expresses her appreciation for the outpouring of condolences, she also urges people to not “glorify this tragedy”.

Co-writing the letter with the help of her two children, Forsberg admits to having glossed over the grief she experienced with Weiland over the years.

“When writing a book years ago, it pained me to sometimes gloss over so much grief and struggle, but I did what I thought was best for Noah and Lucy,” she writes.

“I knew they would one day see and feel everything that I’d been trying to shield them from, and that they’d eventually be brave enough to say, ‘That mess was our father. We loved him, but a deep-rooted mix of love and disappointment made up the majority of our relationship with him.’”

Weiland performing with his band Velvet Revolver in 2007.

The former model writes that while she doesn’t want to “downplay Scott’s amazing talent”, something has to give.

“ ... At some point, someone needs to step up and point out that yes, this will happen again — because as a society we almost encourage it,” she writes. “We read awful show reviews, watch videos of artists falling down, unable to recall their lyrics streaming on a teleprompter just a few feet away. And then we click ‘add to cart’ because what actually belongs in a hospital is now considered art.”

She adds that the public choose to overlook these problems, and describes in detail taking care of Weiland during his dark times.

“You might ask, ‘How were we to know? We read that he loved spending time with his children and that he’d been drug-free for years!’ In reality, what you didn’t want to acknowledge was a paranoid man who couldn’t remember his own lyrics and who was only photographed with his children a handful of times in 15 years of fatherhood,” she writes.

“Even after Scott and I split up, I spent countless hours trying to calm his paranoid fits, pushing him into the shower and filling him with coffee, just so that I could drop him into the audience at Noah’s talent show, or Lucy’s musical.

Weiland with son Noah in 2008.

“Those short encounters were my attempts at giving the kids a feeling of normalcy with their dad. But anything longer would often turn into something scary and uncomfortable for them … There were times that Child Protective Services did not allow him to be alone with them.”

Weiland and Forsberg wed in 2000 and were married for seven years.

Found dead on his tour bus last Thursday, Minnesota police said they found cocaine near the lifeless body of Weiland.

They also arrested Thomas Delton Black — identified by US media as a band member — on charges of drug possession.

Weiland, 48, who also performed with the Velvet Revolver rock group, had admitted in interviews to a longtime struggle with substance abuse.

He was pronounced dead on Thursday, but officials have not said what the cause was.

Read Mary Forsberg Weiland’s full essay at Rolling Stone.

Weiland and Forsberg in New York City in 2000.