Stone Temple Pilots (often abbreviated to STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Robert DeLeo (bass guitar, vocals) and Dean DeLeo (guitar), and Eric Kretz (drums, percussion).
After forming in 1986 under the name Mighty Joe Young, the band found immediate success in 1993 after signing with Atlantic Records and releasing their debut album Core (1992) under the STP moniker. The band went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s, releasing four more studio albums: Purple (1994), Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop (1996), No. 4 (1999) and Shangri-La Dee Da (2001) before separating in 2003, after which the band members partook in various projects, most notably Velvet Revolver and Army of Anyone. STP eventually reconvened in 2008 for a reunion tour, released a new self-titled album in 2010, and have been actively touring since.
While initially displaying a sound typically identified as grunge early on in its career, further releases from the band have shown a variety of influences, including psychedelic rock, bossa nova and classic rock. The band's evolution throughout the 1990s and early 2000s involved several tumultuous periods of commercial highs and lows, brought about in part by Weiland's well-publicized struggles with drug addiction.