CARLTON FLETCHER: Weiland’s death another sad chapter in addiction saga

Bottle of wine, fruit of the vine, when you gonna let me get sober?

— The Fireballs

Someone whose opinion I hold in high regard said to me the other day: “I don’t understand addiction. I don’t get how some people are so weak they completely lose control of their lives.”

While I share this general lack of understanding, I’ve read too many accounts and seen too many lives damaged by addiction to the point of breaking and beyond to write it off as weakness of will. And with an estimated 23 million Americans suffering from some form of addiction, this is no small phenomenon that can be explained away as an anomaly.

I’ve spent a good bit of time over the last few days thinking about addiction in the wake of Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland’s death, which has been at least partially attributed to his long-term drug use. Weiland reportedly tried several times to beat his dependence on drugs, but he ultimately failed.

The loss of Weiland, at age 48, has been blown off by many as “just another rock and roll singer who couldn’t handle fame and fortune.” But like many before him, Weiland’s story is a bit more complicated than that. It’s a story of demons that burrowed their way into his soul and wouldn’t let go.

STP broke onto the music scene in a big way in 1992-93 with their hit debut album “Core, which contained the hits “Creep,” “Plush” and “Wicked Garden.” For some music fans, STP were a little too derivative of Pearl Jam, and there was immediate backlash. But Weiland’s band broke away from that mold with their giant 1994 hit album “Purple,” which included favorites “Vaseline” and “Interstate Love Song.”

The band had a succession of hits after the breakout success of “Purple,” finding chart and critical acclaim with albums “Tiny Music … Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop,” “No. 4” and Shangri-La Dee Da.” But Weiland’s spiraling addiction and stints in rehab eventually led to a falling out among band members and the inevitable dissolution of STP.

Weiland found a fitting second act with Velvet Revolver, a band he formed with guitarist Slash and other former members of Guns N Roses. Velvet Revolver were an immediate hit, their albums “Contraband” and “Libertad” finding a large audience. But like STP, internal conflict — much of it surrounding Weiland’s erratic behavior — doomed the band.

Weiland and STP reformed for a successful tour in 2007-08 and were reportedly planning special projects to commemorate their 20 years together. But the high of that reunion was short-lived, as were subsequent rumors that Velvet Revolver would get back together.

Weiland died on a tour bus Dec. 3 in Minnesota, there for a show with his new band Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts. An autopsy revealed that the official cause of his death was cardiac arrest, brought on by a “toxic mix of drugs, including cocaine.”

Sadly, Weiland’s tragic story is not an isolated incident in the music business. The deaths of such stars as Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones, Billie Holiday, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain (who eventually committed suicide), Jimi Hendrix, Doors singer Jim Morrison, Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley and Sex Pistols frontman Sid Vicious were at least partially attributal to their addictions, to drugs, alcohol and prescription medication.

A stunningly long list of artists who managed to survive their addictions include Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Urban, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Eric Clapton, the late Warren Zevon (who overcame alcohol addiction but died of mesothelioma), the late George Jones, Natalie Cole and Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Keidis, whose addiction to drugs is chronicled in the Chili Peppers’ classic “Under the Bridge.”

One of the common threads that seems to run through the lives of most addicts is denial, a refusal to acknowledge their dependence until, often, it is too late. It falls, therefore, on friends and loved ones to encourage those who may be showing signs of addiction to seek help.

Scott Weiland is only the latest celebrity to succumb to his addiction. Sadly, he most assuredly won’t be the last. And while his public death is tragic, it is no more so than the millions of others who are fighting the same, though less public, fight. We may not understand our loved ones’, friends’ and acquaintances’ struggles, but we owe it to them to do anything we can to help.