SCOTT WEILAND Countersues STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

According to RollingStone.com, singer Scott Weiland has filed a countersuit against STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, seeking at least $5 million in compensatory damages and claiming his former bandmates conspired against him.

"How do you expel a man from a band that he started, named, sang lead on every song, wrote the lyrics and was the face of for 20 years, and then try to grab the name and goodwill for yourselves?" Weiland's complaint reads. "You don't, but three of the instrumentalists from the band 'Stone Temple Pilots' (the 'Band') tried."

According to Weiland's 74-page filing, a partnership agreement signed by STONE TEMPLE PILOTS in 1996, and amended in 2010, allows each bandmember to perform on his own. Under the agreement, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS members Robert DeLeo (bass),Dean DeLeo (guitar) and Eric Kretz (drums) would be forced to play under a different name if separate and apart from Scott.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS issued a statement late last week explaining why they launched legal action against Weiland. After firing him earlier this year, the band filed a lawsuit claiming that Weiland's erratic performances, late arrivals for shows and struggles with addiction had harmed their career. The group said in the statement, "Our purpose in taking this action is not to hurt Scott. We want to move forward productively, and Scott's choices and actions have prevented us from doing that . . . It was beyond time we made some new music, which was impossible in the dysfunctional environment we were in. We've lived in it long enough and have decided to move forward with STP. We wish Scott well."

The band has teamed up with LINKIN PARK singer Chester Bennington, debuting the new lineup and a new song called "Out Of Time" last month at a California radio festival. The statement said, "We're really excited about the new music we've been making with Chester, including the song we just released, 'Out Of Time'."

The statement concluded, "We love this band and respect everything it means to you. We want to always give you our best and the choice we made is completely in that spirit."

Weiland told AZCentral last week that his former bandmates were "selfish" and "disrespectful."

Meanwhile, the members of STP showed up at the MusiCares MAP Fund benefit in Los Angeles on Thursday night (May 30),where Bennington was one of the honorees for his continued support of the MAP Fund's commitment to helping musicians with addiction issues.

Bennington and STP performed for the second time together at the event, joined by Slash and Duff McKagan for a cover of "All The Young Dudes".

Before the performance, Bennington told Rolling Stone about his collaboration with STP, "For us the creative juices have just been flowing — we've been writing, we have tons of great ideas. Next week we're going back in the studio and hammering out some more music."

With Bennington still committed to LINKIN PARK as well, he said that STP will focus on releasing one song at a time for now instead of trying to record a whole album. He explained, "All we care about is going out, making the legacy as great as it needs to be, as great as people expect it to be, and coming out with new music that lives up to that standard."