Sad news from the music world:
Scott Weiland, Former Stone Temple Pilots Singer, Dead at 48 | Rolling Stone
I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Weiland's life. He battled with addiction issues throughout his life, starting with coke in his teens. When Stone Temple Pilots hit it big in the early 90's, he got hooked on heroin. And for much (if not all) of the next 20+ years, he struggled with addiction. He concurrently suffered from Bipolar Disorder. I remember seeing an interview he did with Howard Stern about 5 years ago, and he admitted that he still drank. In the same breath, he said he wanted to quit drinking.
Given all the live footage of Weiland that's on YouTube these days from the past several years, I'm guessing he never quit because he didn't sound very good. You can only abuse yourself for so long before it begins to take a toll on your craft. Look at Whitney Houston. Or Jimmy Page after 1975.
This is a sad but all-too-familiar tale. Weiland was never able to be fully honest with himself. He repeatedly gave himself permission to self destruct. And while the autopsy hasn't been performed yet, it's not unreasonable to assume that a lifetime of abuse finally caught up with him. He leaves two kids and a wife behind.