Jamie Weiland insists her late husband Scott Weiland doesn't get the accolades, respect and recognition he deserves for his career with Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver.
The vocalist died in December 2015 on his tour bus while on the road with his solo band The Wildabouts. He was 48. The cause of death was reported as an accidental overdose and drugs including cocaine, marijuana, bipolar medication and anti-anxiety medication for treating addiction were found on the tour bus.
But his widow Jamie, an artist, insists Scott did not overdose. And she believes that misconception is part of the reason he doesn't get the recognition his talents deserve.
She tells Appetite For Distortion: "I feel like he really does not have the accolades and the respect and the recognition that he absolutely deserves. I feel like when he died, everybody was kind of, like, 'that's tragic but of course he overdosed'. He didn't.
"Because he had drugs in his system, the coroner had to rule it an overdose. But the truth is Scott died because the main artery in his left ventricle was 95% blocked. That came from 10 years of heroin use. That came from an entire adult life of chain smoking. His heart stopped."
She continues: "I really wanna clear up, that was not an overdose. He was not using heroin. He did not overdose on drugs. His heart stopped because his heart had been through so much abuse because of prior drug use in his life and smoking and heavy drinking."
Jamie also reveals that she came in for criticism from some fans in the wake of Scott's death.
"People can say whatever the fuck they want about things that I did or didn't do," she says. "But the truth was I did pretty much all the heavy lifting myself with him. I was alone with him trying to keep him safe and keep him calm and get him to the right doctors and get him on stage, get him to rehearsals. It was just me. I was the gatekeeper for everything.
"And that was really, really fucking hard. So when we talk about the comments that people make about me, about Scott, about our marriage, I basically wanna tell everybody to go fuck off, because they weren't there. They didn't know. And to judge and comment on it is just so low and ignorant."
