http://www.mtv.com/bands/w/weiland_scott/news_feature_062804/The lithe, shirtless man in skintight silver lame pants seems perfectly at home writhing to Slash's blistering solo in the video for Velvet Revolver's "Slither." You'd swear he's been working that shimmy since "Welcome to the Jungle" first blared out of the Whisky A Go-Go in 1985.
But actually, it's just the latest in a series of Zelig-like transformations for Scott Weiland.
Over the last 12 years, the former frontman of Stone Temple Pilots has changed his appearance to suit his surroundings more times than a chameleon crawling over a tie-dyed shirt. His latest incarnation as mouthpiece for Velvet Revolver, a band comprised mostly of ex-members of Guns N' Roses, might seem a stretch for a guy who, a dozen years ago, helped to chase Guns and their big-haired, big-money comrades off of the charts with the anti-glam of grunge. But considering some of the image-leaps Weiland's taken thus far, nothing seems beyond his reach.
In fact, when STP burst onto the scene back in 1992, Weiland's look was about as far removed from Guns N' Roses as it could be. Although STP was born in Southern California, their sound and style were initially pure Seattle: Wearing gas-station-attendant workshirts, Dickies, unkempt tufts of short, bleach-blonde hair and a scruffy goatee, the then-unfamiliar Weiland's appearance mirrored that of many grunge facemen, most notably Eddie Vedder.
Perhaps noticing this, Weiland soon dyed his hair flaming red, but this did little to distinguish him from the Pearl Jam singer. Many people probably assumed that Vedder was experimenting with his own image when they saw the video for STP's "Even Flow" sound-alike, "Plush."
Weiland's assimilation of Emerald City aesthetics didn't end there. After changing his hair color a few times, he let his locks grow and seemed to swear off combs for a while. In November 1993, Stone Temple Pilots taped an episode of MTV "Unplugged," and viewers needed more than their eyes to confirm that it wasn't Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley sitting in that rocking chair.
Weiland rocked his Layne-like appearance throughout the Purple era, but by the end of 1996, on the heels of STP's third album, Tiny Music... Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop, his look had morphed along with the band's music.
As the band matured toward a more psychedelic-rock sound, Weiland slipped into something a little more grown-up, too. In eyeliner, fitted suits and fine shoes, he became the dandiest rocker this side of Prince. STP concerts were usually semi-formal occasions for Weiland, and the pin-striped suit he wore in the video for "Lady Picture Show" could have earned him a GQ cover shot.
While no one could accuse him of looking like Layne Staley anymore, one unfortunate parallel between Weiland and the now-deceased Alice in Chains singer was long-term drug addiction. After being arrested in 1995 for heroin and cocaine possession, Weiland was sent to rehab at the end of 1997 and STP went on hiatus. The following year, Weiland released a solo album, 12 Bar Blues. The album showed a strong David Bowie influence, and a pale-faced and spaced-out Weiland even looked a bit like Bowie on the video for the sci-fi referencing "Barbarella." The video borrowed the theme from Bowie's 1976 film "The Man Who Fell To Earth," as if the point needed further driving home.
Yet Weiland's solo career stopped abruptly following more problems with substance abuse and the law, and he reunited with his bandmates for 1999's No. 4, though a five-month stint in jail prevented him from promoting STP's hardest rocking album since their debut. Sprung in early 2000, Weiland really let his freak flag fly: He even cross-dressed at some shows.
Although the photo here shows a more comical take on female fashion, at other gigs, Weiland was going all-out, wearing sequined dresses, finely coiffed wigs and elbow-length evening gloves.
At the same time, Weiland was pushing his leisure-suit dandyism toward the extreme: Brightly colored suits and silk shirts, feather boas, scarves, oversized rock-star sunglasses, and enough Armani to make half of Hollywood jealous. The look was more than a little reminiscent of the couture Perry Farrell was rocking at around the same time.
Neither look lasted too long in concert, since by show's end Weiland was usually wearing next to nothing. Even when not performing, the shirtless or open-shirted Jim Morrison look was evident in the post-modern, Teletubbies-inspired video for "Sour Girl" and the performance clip for "No Way Out," in which the sinewy, half-naked Weiland sports an orange Mohawk for a deranged, Iggy Pop-meets-Travis Bickle look.
Weiland carried his cross-dressing and pimp suits over to the 2001 Shangri-La Dee Da-era, occasionally breaking form with a white-collared priest's habit, a policeman's hat or a skullcap with "NYPD" printed on it, presumably in ironic reference to his run-ins with the law.
The following year, the dresses began to fade from his repertoire and the suits became more conservative, though his penchant for showing skin ? sometimes he wore nothing but an American flag ? remained.
But although Velvet Revolver-era Weiland is still stripping down with regularity, he's traded in the suits and skirts for a look that's decidedly more bad-ass than pretty boy: a classic leather jacket, studded belt and tight jeans in the grainy, black-and-white promotional shots for the band's debut, Contraband. Gone, too, are any traces of bling on his hands, having been replaced by twisted silver rings and chain bracelets.
And although he's remained free of kilts, spandex shorts and do-rags, Weiland's recent eruptions concerning the press remind us more than a little of a lead singer that Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum used to play with. In a recent two-week span, Weiland posted on Velvet Revolver's Web site angry missives to one journalist who gave the album a negative review for Maxim and another who wrote about the band for the metal mag Revolver under the headline Appetite For Dysfunction and a subhead that referenced Weiland as being "the biggest f----up of them all." Before swearing off all further interviews and accusing the press of being "f---ing kiss-ass pu--y turncoats," Weiland challenged the Revolver writer to a fight. Axl Rose did the same thing in 1991, only his call for the editors of Spin, Hit Parader, Circus and Kerrang! to "Get In the Ring" was composed in song on Use Your Illusion II.
Which brings us full circle, in a way: Scott Weiland hasn't just formed a group with Axl's former bandmates ? he's using them as accessories for his latest look.
To be fair, not many of us maintain the same image for 14 years (if we did, there would be lot more flannel shirts, Doc Martens and goatees on the streets). But while it?s easy to imagine the ageless Slash five years from now, still shredding on his Les Paul under a thick veil of curly locks, picturing Weiland in 2009 is a far greater challenge.
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