Word on the street is that Stone Temple Pilots have bagged themselves a new frontman.
The grunge veterans have been hard at work trying to fill the shoes of their iconic vocalist Scott Weiland, who died tragically of a drug overdose at the end of last year (Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington had been subbing in for Weiland prior to his death, but he also quit the band last year to focus on other things).
As Alternative Nation reports, it looks a helluva lot like STP may be close to unveiling the identity of the individual who will carry on Weiland’s legacy, and there are some big rumours going around about just who that individual is.
And look, it’s someone you’ve probably never heard of.
Filipino singer John Borja – who was one of countless vocalists to submit an STP audition tape earlier this year – has sparked rampant speculation after posting a snap of himself hanging out with the group’s bassist Robert DeLeo (and Def Leppard’s Phil Collen) at their sideproject Delta Deep’s gig in LA’s San Juan Capistrano earlier this week:
(Image Via Alternative Nation)
And now, in a new interview with with Filipino outlet Radio Republic, the 27-year-old has responded to rumours that he could imminently be announced as STP’s new Silvergun Superman.
“As of now I can’t give the full details yet, but there are clues or hints that seem to be favourable to me,” Borja says. “Let’s wait for them to give the official announcement.
“I respect the guys’ decision, whatever it is. It would be my honour to play music with them,” he says.
Borja also adds that, even though Scott Weiland is an “irreplaceable” frontman, he believes that he can “carry his legacy through my personality, despite being Filipino” and would bring a “more melodic and powerful” vocal sound to STP.
Stone Temple Pilots began their hunt for a new lead singer with open auditions back in February, before narrowing the search to a shortlist of finalists in April.
At the time, guitarist Dean DeLeo told The Pulse Of Radio that the band wouldn’t be cutting corners with their search. “You know, I promise you one thing: we’re not gonna settle,” he said (via Blabbermouth).
“This person has to be really, really great. You know, we had the fortune of being in a band with one of the greats — twice! You know, Chester [Bennington] included. So we’re not gonna settle.”
And although the band have not confirmed the identity of any of the finalists in their frontman search, they have revealed that one of them is not in actual fact Creed frontman Scott Stapp, who was recently announced as Weiland’s official replacement in rock supergroup Art Of Anarchy.
Watch prospective new Stone Temple Pilot John Borja belt out a medley of 12 STP classics in his official audition video below.
Watch: John Borja Stone Temple Pilots Audition
