Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan shared a heartfelt tribute to his late friend Scott Weiland on the band’s website on Friday, Dec. 4.
“Having just woken to the news of this passing, I feel compelled to put pen to paper and pay my respects to Scott,” Corgan, 48, wrote. “And in that I will not pretend to know more than I know, or add some sad homily to how he loved his life. At least in that, may I now say he is undoubtedly in the arms of grace and eternal love.”
“We mourn all that might have been,” Corgan added of Weiland’s untimely passing at the age of 48. “And as any fan, I find myself reflecting on what I do have: in scarce moments when Scott and I spoke as contemporaries and got to know each other as people… I’d try to make him giggle when I saw that the manic whirl of the dumb parties we were at (in Hollywood, no less!) might be causing undue stress.”
On Thursday, Dec. 3, the Stone Temple Pilots frontman was found dead on his tour bus of cardiac arrest. According to a police report obtained by Us Weekly, police obtained a search warrant following his death and found cocaine on Weiland’s tour bus.
The late rocker’s The Wildabouts bandmate Tommy Black was arrested and faces charges for possession of a controlled substance.
In his post, Corgan also wrote about Weiland’s charismatic charm. “Not only was the knight up front freshly handsome to a fault, but he could sing too,” the Smashing Pumpkins rocker wrote. Comparing him to David Bowie, Corgan added, “And if you asked me who I truly believed were the great voices of our generation, I’d say it were he, Layne [Staley], and Kurt [Cobain].”
In addition to Corgan, other musicians have also paid respects to the late rocker.
“It’s not my loss, it’s our loss,” Dave Navarro wrote on Friday. “Send your thoughts to the family.”
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry wrote, “Extremely saddened to have read Scott Weiland passed. Such a gifted performer.”
Weiland is survived by his wife, Jamie, and his two children from a previous marriage — Noah, 15, and Lucy, 13.
