Following Scott Weiland's death, his ex-wife Mary Fosberg Weiland wrote a letter to the public on his passing. She wrote in on behalf of his family and for his two children Noah, 15, and Lucy, 13. Her two children added their own parts to the honest letter teaching the public what was really going on behind the scenes in the Velvet Revolver singer's life and what really lead to his death.
"We don't want to downplay Scott's amazing talent, presence or his ability to light up any stage with brilliant electricity. So many people have been gracious enough to praise his gift. The music is here to stay. But at some point, someone needs to step up and point out that yes, this will happen again - because as a society we almost encourage it," Fosberg wrote in an open letter to Rolling Stone. "We read awful show reviews, watch videos of artists falling down, unable to recall their lyrics streaming on a teleprompter just a few feet away. And then we click "add to cart" because what actually belongs in a hospital is now considered art."
Fosberg also included a heartbreaking segment about the children of those who pass. While the public "Many of these artists have children. Children with tears in their eyes experiencing panic attacks because their cries go unheard."
Weiland passed away on Dec. 3, when he was found unresponsive in his tour bus. The singer was on tour with his new group Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts, and they were reportedly slated to play a show in Hamel, Minnesota on the night of his death. The tour was in support of their 2014 album Blaster. Weiland had long documented struggles with substance abuse and had been arrested twice, once in 1995 for purchasing crack cocaine and again in 2007 for driving under the influence.
While he struggled with insurmountable personal demons, he will be memorialized as one of the greatest artists of our time, especially for his time in the Stone Temple Pilots, who released four studio albums and achieved numerous No. 1 singles before Weiland departed in 2002. But this goes to the point that his ex-wife was trying to make and her letter seems to be a call not to memorialize his death the way that the industry tends to do with fallen rock stars.
