Stone Temple Pilots (often abbreviated as STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean DeLeo (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz (drums). From the band's formation in 1989, its line-up remained unchanged until the firing of Weiland in February 2013. Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington joined the band in May 2013. In November 2015, Bennington left the band to focus solely on Linkin Park.

Stone Temple Pilots developed a fan base in San Diego clubs. In 1992, Stone Temple Pilots signed with Atlantic Records. Their first album, Core, was released on September 29, 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Albums Chart. Core was a big success, producing hits "Sex Type Thing," "Plush," "Creep", and "Wicked Garden." While the album was a major commercial success, some in the music press criticized the band as "grunge imitators." The same year, Scott Weiland and Dean DeLeo played an acoustic version of "Plush" on the MTV show "Headbanger's Ball." This is considered one of Weiland's greatest vocal performances. Despite hostile reviews from some critics, Stone Temple Pilots continued to gain fans. They toured for four weeks, opening for bands such as Rage Against the Machine and Megadeth. 1993 brought continued success on the road, with the band headlining a two-and-a-half-month American tour, often performing at benefits for pro-choice organizations. In 1993, the band filmed an episode of MTV Unplugged, where they debuted the song "Big Empty." In a January 1994 Rolling Stone poll, the band was simultaneously voted Best New Band by Rolling Stone's readers and Worst New Band by the magazine's music critics. The following month the group won Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist at the American Music Awards. In March 1994, the group won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Plush". In the spring of 1994, Stone Temple Pilots returned to the studio to work on their second album, Purple. Completed in less than a month, Purple debuted at number one in the United States upon its release on June 7, 1994. The radio-friendly "Interstate Love Song" quickly became a big hit, spending a record-setting fifteen weeks atop the album rock tracks chart. Other hits from the album included "Vasoline" and "Big Empty" (the latter also being featured on the soundtrack to the film The Crow). By October, just four months after its release, Purple had sold three million copies.

did the album hit the charts?
peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Albums Chart.