Scott Weiland’s Ex-Wife Writes Letter on Kids’ Behalf: ‘They Lost Their Father Years Ago’
Mary Forsberg Weiland, the ex-wife of the late Stone Temple Pilots ex-frontman Scott Weiland and mother of his children, wrote an essay for Rolling Stone detailing the family’s response to his tragic death and offering an emotional glimpse into the flawed relationship he had with his two kids.
The singer was found unresponsive on a tour bus in Minnesota on Dec. 3. He had a well-documented history of substance abuse, but the cause of his death is still unknown. His Wildabouts bandmate, bassist Tommy Black, was arrested the next day for possession of cocaine on the bus on which Weiland was found dead.
Forsberg Weiland penned the note with the help of her and the singer’s two teenage children in the days following his unexpected death.
She opens the letter by expressing her appreciation to those who have offered their condolences to her two children (Noah, 15, and Lucy, 13) in the aftermath of their father’s death, but then candidly reveals that the kids “lost their father years ago.” She adds, “What they truly lost on December 3rd was hope.”
While Forsberg Weiland was adamant about recognizing the singer’s talent and “ability to light up any stage with brilliant electricity,” she bashes the music industry for glorifying the lifestyles of troubled, fallen artists.
“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 goes on to detail the broken relationship the singer had with his children and her efforts to mend the damage. During the final years of his life, she recalls few interactions between him and the kids, but questions if those years of separation were somewhat of a parting gift. “The only way he could think to soften what he knew would one day crush us deep into our souls,” she writes.
“Over the last few years, I could hear his sadness and confusion when he’d call me late into the night, often crying about his inability to separate himself from negative people and bad choices. We are angry and sad about this loss, but we are most devastated that he chose to give up.”
Weiland concludes the emotional, brutally-honest letter with a message to those in mourning of her rocker ex-husband.
“Let’s choose to make this the first time we don’t glorify this tragedy with talk of rock and roll and the demons that, by the way, don’t have to come with it. Skip the depressing T-shirt with 1967-2015 on it — use the money to take a kid to a ballgame or out for ice cream.”
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Stone Temple Pilots, Billy Corgan Pen Tributes to Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland's Bandmate Tommy Black Arrested for Cocaine Possession
Stone Temple Pilots' Scott Weiland Dies at 48, Says Guitarist
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