Velvet Revolver

[muthagoose]

The Rise of Velvet Revolver

Debuts tonight at 11PM on VH1

It's January 2003, several years after former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum walked away from the band that made them rock stars. And here they are in a North Hollywood rehearsal studio trying to rekindle their undeniable musical chemistry. All they need is the perfect singer. But finding a worthy front man hasn't been so easy; it's already been an eight month search and they're running out of ideas.

As a last ditch effort, the band (which also include Slash's school friend, Dave Kushner) puts an ad in the paper in hopes of finding an unknown talent. After hundreds of submissions and a few in-studio auditions prove uninspiring, the band reaches a near breaking point.

But a glimmer of hope arrives in the form of Scott Weiland, who is on an extended hiatus from his multi-platinum powerhouse, Stone Temple Pilots. From the very first rehearsal with Scott, it is clear to Slash, Duff, Matt & Dave that Scott is a rare breed. An authentic rock n' roll front man in an era mostly dominated by dull wannabees striking a pose. He's the perfect guy.

On what seems to be a near perfect path to rock n roll glory, Velvet Revolver hits a speed bump: Scott's drug related arrest 2 months after joining the band. But instead of giving up on the singer that solidified its vision, the band uses its own checkered history to help Scott get through it. The loyalty pays off as the band records a straight up rock record that becomes a radio staple.

Over a year in the making, (Inside)Out follows the ups and downs of Velvet Revolver: from the rehearsal studio to band meetings to the "Slither" video shoot. You’ll go backstage with Velvet Revolver and experience their first live performance, and see VH1’s intimate interviews with the band members (and with some who tried to sing their way into the band before Scott arrived).

[muthagoose]

VELVET REVOLVER spoke to MTV.com about the making of their "Dirty Little Thing" video, the third single from their debut album, "Contraband".

"Basically the concept is the train's gonna be animated and everything on the outside is gonna be animated, and once you climb inside it's gonna be real human beings in there partying," drummer Matt Sorum explained. "We've always wanted to do an animated thing. I think Slash would look great animated."

Motion Theory — a directing team whose résumé includes PAPA ROACH's "Getting Away With Murder" and R.E.M's "Animal" — are directing the video, which will be inspired by Japanese artist Rockin' Jellybean, who designed VELVET REVOLVER's backdrop and is known for his edgy illustrations of sex goddesses and muscle cars.

"He's really sick and cool," bassist Duff McKagan said of Jellybean. "It'll be a crazy locomotive traveling around the planet."

VELVET REVOLVER will shoot the video next week, before heading to Las Vegas for shows on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

[muthagoose]

VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal ahead of the band's appearance New Year's Eve at Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

On his approach to living life:

"My life is amazing. I'd say I'm pretty well-grounded. But still, I am who I am — I have my right foot firmly planted in reality, but my left foot is always hanging over the precipice. But that's the way I like it.

"That's how I keep my edge. I would never want to become boring, because that would make me like every other boring, lazy sod. And I would fear that would take away my ability to write good songs."

On being sober:

"You definitely don't need to ingest major quantities of narcotics or alcohol to write good songs. In fact, my last few years of my narcotic-mix adventures, it became increasingly harder to tap into that cosmic musical stream of consciousness.

"After a while, drugs are just like a big, wet blanket that sort of keeps you from feeling the raw emotion of the music. So in a sense, being clean is actually being closer to the edge."

On taking drugs to self-medicate his bipolar condition:

"Having bipolar condition is enough of a problem all in itself, but it's also a blessing in dealing with being an artist. And that's enough of a roller coaster ride. It keeps life on the edge.

"I can go through a period of time where I'm completely stable, and I don't have any idea when I'm gonna flip out. And it can happen during a show, and it has happened.

"Those are a lot of the reasons I self-medicated (for) so long. I've probably taken more narcotics than a small country has. It's weird, 'cause I don't know why I'm still here today. Things that kill other people don't kill me. Despite everything, I'm a survivor. I can only suppose I possess the kind of mentality and psychological makeup that I can handle it. I guess I come from very tough stock."

On being diagnosed as bipolar a decade ago:

"It wasn't a shock at all, because when I was a kid, probably 6 or 7 years old, I was diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder). My mom never wanted me to take Ritalin or any of those forms of stimulant-oriented medications. ... I was always a real creative kid with a very overactive imagination, which is why the arts always appealed to me — arts and entertaining. So here I am, making a living."
On joining VELVET REVOLVER:

"I didn't want to just be involved in a super group. I had a huge amount of respect for the guys in the band, and I had a feeling it could be a big moneymaking venture. But coming from a band that had just made such a huge mark on rock 'n' roll and popular music ... I didn't want to get involved with something that would detract from that."

"It was a real barnstormer right out of the gate. It was like a neutron bomb, and I think it's gotten a lot more streamlined since then, and a lot more sexual.

"But this band has a lot of personalities in it. And I think there are times when we are getting along fabulously, and there are times when we seem to be on the edge of an internal explosion.

"I think that's what made up great bands from the beginning of rock 'n' roll. What were the odds of that happening twice, of finding a band where you can have that sort of combination, that chemistry?"

[muthagoose]

VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES drummer Matt Sorum recently spoke to the Las Vegas Weekly about his penchant for groupies (he's the only member of the band who's not married), which has put him at odds with VR frontman Scott Weiland, according to a recent Entertainment Weekly article. Sorum now says the two have reached an understanding. "One night, we had a little situation where Scott accidentally walked in on me with about four girls naked, and it just kind of threw him off," he said in the sort of tone one might use to describe accidentally spilling some milk. "It just got a little out of control. But you know, we talked about it, and I said, 'Look, dude, I'm doing my thing, you're doing your thing. I did nothing but support you in your life,' and he does the same for me now. We've come to an agreement on how to make it work."

Sorum said that he's even toying with the idea of pitching a reality show based on his backstage exploits, after a special on the formation of VELVET REVOLVER and the recording of "Contraband" met with some success on VH1.

[Üncle Snake]

According to guitarist Slash's official site, VELVET REVOLVER have confirmed the following North American tour dates:

Mar. 24 - Bakersfield, CA @ Centennial Garden
Mar. 25 - San Francisco, CA @ Compaq/Bill Graham Civic Center
Mar. 26 - Los Angeles, CA @ Forum
Mar. 28 - San Diego, CA @ Cox Arena
Mar. 29 - Phoenix, AZ @ America West
Mar. 31 - Las Cruces, NM @ TBA
Apr. 01 - Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Arena
Apr. 02 - Houston, TX @ Reliant Arena
Apr. 04 - New Orleans, LA @ UNO Arena
Apr. 07 - Miami, FL @ American Airlines Arena
Apr. 08 - Tampa, FL @ TD Waterhouse
Apr. 09 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Veterans Mem Arena
Apr. 11 - Atlanta, GA @ Gwinett Center
Apr. 12 - Charlotte, NC @ Cricket Arena
Apr. 14 - Norfolk, VA @ Constant Convocation Center
Apr. 15 - Washington, DC @ Patriot Center
Apr. 16 - New York City, NY @ TBA
Apr. 18 - Rochester, NY @ Blue Cross Arena
Apr. 19 - Detroit, MI @ Cobo/Palace Of Auburn Hills
Apr. 21 - St. Louis, MI @ Savvis Center
Apr. 22 - Milwaukee, WI @ US Cellular
Apr. 23 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target
Apr. 25 - Denver, CO @ Magness/Pepsi Center
Apr. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT @ E Center
Apr. 29 - Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum
Apr. 30 - Seattle, WA @ Key Arena/Everette Arena

[muthagoose]

VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash has told Rolling Stone magazine that the group are planning to get cracking on their second record in the fall.

"As soon as we get off the road, we want to start getting the next record done and get it out," he said. "We don't want to lose momentum."

The band already have plenty of material to follow up their 2004 chart-topping debut, "Contraband". "We've got tapes and tapes of stuff that we've been writing at soundcheck," Slash said. "There should be more than an album's worth of material. And then there's all the stuff we wrote before we did the first record that we never really touched."

Slash also thinks that, with the orientation phase of the band over, their sophomore effort should come together more easily. "When we did this first record, it was like a bunch of kids in a sandbox all thrown in at one time," he said. "Now we've managed to play together as a band, grow as a band and get to know each other as a band."

[muthagoose]

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne officially announced Monday (Jan. 17) their plans to record a cover of ERIC CLAPTON's "Tears in Heaven" to benefit storm recovery efforts, according to MTV.com.

VELVET REVOLVER, AEROSMITH's Steven Tyler, Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne are among the artists lending their voices to the song, sales of which will benefit the Disasters Emergency Committee's Tsunami Earthquake Appeal.

The recording sessions will take place on two continents, starting this Thursday at London's Whitfield Street Studios, where VELVET REVOLVER, Elton John and Italian opera star Andrea Bocelli will lay down vocals. The following week, Gwen Stefani, Rod Stewart, the Osbournes, Josh Groban and Robbie Williams will record their tracks in Los Angeles. Pink is set to record in New York, and Tyler will do his vocal work in Boston.

Sharon is set to produce the track along with "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell.

Clapton's original version of "Tears" — written after the tragic death of his 4-year-old son Conor in 1991 — first appeared on the 1992 soundtrack to the film "Rush", and then later that year on his "Unplugged" album. The stripped-down, acoustic version of the song took home several Grammy awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

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VELVET REVOLVER recorded an acoustic version of their song "Fall to Pieces" on Wednesday (Jan. 26) during an all-day session at Lavish studios, the Los Angeles recording/rehearsal facility owned by VELVET REVOLVER singer Scott Weiland and producer/engineer Douglas Grean.

Meanwhile, a release date has been set for the recently recorded benefit single featuring a number of today's top pop/rock stars, including VELVET REVOLVER, AEROSMITH's Steven Tyler and Ozzy Osbourne.

The cover of ERIC CLAPTON's "Tears in Heaven", sales of which will benefit the Disasters Emergency Committee's Tsunami Earthquake Appeal, will receive a U.K. release on Monday, February 21, according to informed sources.

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VELVET REVOLVER will take part in an all-star live performance of THE BEATLES song "Across the Universe" during the 47th annual Grammy Awards celebration, according to Billboard.com. The song, which will also feature U2 lead singer Bono, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Tim McGraw and Brian Wilson, will be immediately released to raise funds for tsunami relief efforts.

The track will be made available for download at Apple's iTunes Music Store for 99 cents, with all proceeds to aid victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Video of the performance will be available on demand at CBS.com soon after the network's Feb. 13 broadcast of the awards.

Queen Latifah will host the affair, for which HOOBASTANK, Alison Krauss, Tyra Banks and AEROSMITH's Steven Tyler have been newly confirmed as presenters.

[muthagoose]

In a recent interview with the Associated Press, VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland addressed persistent rumors of a rift between him and the group's lead guitarist, Slash. The band suddenly fired their management company, with Slash opting to hire his own manager while the rest of the band chose a different one. And there were reports of clashes at a U.K. photo shoot.

"I love Slash and Slash loves me, and he and I get along great," Weiland said defensively. However, he added, "there are always conflicts that exist in every band," and "the only problem that Slash and I have are a couple of external variables and those external variables are private matters."

He declined to elaborate. "Bands have problems all the time. It's a marriage. It's a family," he said.

Is it egos? Too many chefs in the kitchen?

"Everyone's got an ego, right?" Weiland said. "One thing we've learned through the differences that we've experienced and the problems we've gone through in our last bands because of ego problems and mishaps — and that's how to keep a band together."

Will this toxic music cocktail drive rock to explosive new heights, or will they crash and explode?

"That's what you call the Evel Knievel factor," Weiland said playfully. "People didn't pay big bucks just to watch him jump. If he never crashed and burned once in a while, he wouldn't have sold out those stadiums."

[muthagoose]

Guitarist Slash's (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) top hat that he's been wearing for the past 15 years was stolen out of the limo that took him to the Grammy Awards last Sunday (Feb. 13), informed sources have told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. The limo driver swears he knows nothing about it and Slash wants the hat back. In addition, some personal things were missing from a bag Slash's wife Perla left in the limo with the top hat.

[muthagoose]

Launch Radio Networks reports: VELVET REVOLVER will kick off their spring North American tour, dubbed the Electric Wonderland Show, in late March. But if it was up to singer Scott Weiland, the band would probably be in the studio working on their second album instead — if only to have some new songs to play live. "We have one album worth of original material that we play, and to keep things fresh, we are constantly learning other people's material — covers of classic songs that we really admire, influences to us," he said. "But at some point, that's gonna get old. It's actually starting to get old. So we're really starting to get eager to put out a new record."

VELVET REVOLVER's tour begins on March 22 in Montreal, Canada, with dates scheduled through May 25 in Miami, Florida.

HOOBASTANK will serve as the opening act on the trek's West Coast leg. A warm-up band for the tour's East Coast shows has not been announced yet.

[muthagoose]

A California man has apparently come forward claiming that he has the top hat that was allegedly stolen from guitarist Slash's (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) limo that took him to the Grammy Awards on February 13.

The man claims that he bought the hat from a transient for $50.00 on Hollywood Blvd. and is demanding a reward for returning the hat, which he has threatened to sell on eBay unless he is compensated for his efforts.

[muthagoose]

VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash (ex-GUNS N' ROSES) spoke by phone to Jim Bone of WBSX-97.9X in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA on Thursday (March 3) about finally locating his stolen top hat and performing at the Grammy Awards, among other topics. Asked about the status of his missing hat, Slash said, "This guy has popped up, he's surfaced with it. He's got a picture of it — it's the right hat. I don't know how he got it — I think he's full of shit, but whatever… He popped up [and] he was going on a radio station in Los Angeles. It's like we weren't gonna hear that. Anyway, so he's supposed to do it [give the hat back] tomorrow morning, so we'll see what happens.

"It's one of those things. It's just an article of clothing. It's personal — I've had it for a long time. Right after the Grammys, we got on a plane and went to Australia. I just got back last Monday. That being the case, when the subject popped up again, I was gonna get the money from the limo company and just have another one made or something like that, but this guy popped out with the actual article, the genuine article. And like, I just want the hat back. He's got the total story of [how he bought] the hat from a transient and all this kind of stuff. And like, that [story] doesn't check out with me.

But whatever… Just give it back, and you want 50 bucks for it, fine. But the fact that it's made global news… It's just a hat. There's nobody in it (laughs). So what's pretty funny is I can't think of too many material things that one could lose that would make the news at this level."

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: Guns N' Roses - My Michelle

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[muthagoose]

ContactMusic.com is reporting that VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland is impressing lawmakers in Los Angeles so much with his new-found sobriety, they're set to dismiss the drug charges against him.

The former STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer has been in and out of court for the past two years after back-to-back charges for drug possession and drink driving in 2003.

Now clean and sober, Weiland was told in court on Monday (April 4) that he has only three more drug tests between now and July and, if he passes them, his probation will be terminated.

Weiland told TV news show "Celebrity Justice", "I feel really good. It has been a long road. I can't really recognize my life today from the way my life was almost two years ago."

[muthagoose]

VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland told U-Press Telegram in a recent interview that he initially resisted joining joining the group following his departure from STONE TEMPLE PILOTS.

"I had really made up my mind before (VELVET REVOLVER) that I wasn't going to be involved with rock," Weiland revealed. "I didn't want to be a part of what that current, I wouldn't even call it a movement, was about. There was that nu metal thing. I didn't known anything about it. I didn't understand it.

"The music I was hearing was based all around detuned riffs that laid within one or two different keys. Every riff I was hearing was the same regurgitated chord patterns with absolutely no melody," Weiland said. "The attitudes were cartoon versions of heavy metal guys pretending they were rappers. I found it very unrock and roll and unsexy while at the same time very sexist."

At the same time, Weiland says the breakup from STP left him feeling burned out.

"I'd just gotten out of a long relationship with STP that had really worn thin," Weiland said. "That was a tight family with four guys who had been through hell and back. I wasn't too excited about going through the whole thing all over again. It really took some coaxing to get me down to that studio.

"I was tepid and wary about the idea of it being a GUNS N' ROSES reunion. But Duff [McKagan, bass] convinced me it was something altogether different and that the wild card lay in Dave Kushner," Weiland said. "I'd known Dave for a long time. I'd done gigs with him when he was in ELECTRIC LOVE HOGS. I could see where that was the truth."

Weiland said the recent emotional and mental chaos he has endured from trying to get his life back on track was a well of lyrical inspiration.

"This record was serendipity," Weiland said. "It was a change or die period for me. I had to man up. It was a difficult thing to do. I had to find strength to be able to do everything that I had previously not been able to do.

"Because it was that point in my life, it was that sort of place musically. There was a whole world of emotions going on," he said. "I was in a band with people who had gone through a lot of the same experiences I" d gone through. Those guys were able to lay down an instrumental bed of music for me to write melodies and lyrics on top of.

"It was extremely powerful, extremely high energy, extremely emotional, extremely vicious, extremely angry, extremely sexual — every high intensity that I was feeling at the time into one," Weiland said.

"As I got out of the medicated phase I was in and into the complete live wire, raw nerve phase where there was nothing blocking my emotions, I had so much to write about."

[muthagoose]

According to a post on Velvet-Revolver.com, VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland will be the musical performer on NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly" on May 9. No further information is currently available.

[muthagoose]

Scott Weiland of VELVET REVOLVER and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS has accepted an invitation to make a special solo appearance on NBC-TV's "Last Call with Carson Daly", to air May 19. The charismatic, controversial frontman will tape an exclusive performance of a song he recently wrote and produced. Scott will also be joined by the acclaimed musician/producer Daniel Lanois on pedal steel guitar. The cameras will be rolling at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles May 9, on a day off from VELVET REVOLVER's in-progress "Electric Wonderland Show" arena tour.

[muthagoose]

According to a post on Velvet-Revolver.com, Scott Weiland of VELVET REVOLVER and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS showed up Monday night (May 9) at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles to tape a special solo appearance on NBC-TV's "Last Call with Carson Daly". Weiland performed the song "The Man I Didn't Know", which he wrote and produced. Scott was joined by Douglas Grean (guitar, keyboards and vocals) and Daniel Lanois on pedal steel guitar.

[muthagoose]

VELVET REVOLVER drummer Matt Sorum recently spoke to Launch Radio Networks about the group's upcoming DVD, which is tentatively due late summer. "We're working on it right now," he said. "We're cutting it up. Shot that down in Houston early on, and we did a lot of footage backstage and stuff, so it should be real interesting. We're gonna intercut a lot of backstage footage with a lot of stuff in our travels, you know, cross-country, which will be cool to kind of end the tour up with."

As previously reported, VELVET REVOLVER have written and recorded a new song for the soundtrack of the upcoming movie "The Fantastic Four", according to Sp1at.com. A spokesperson reportedly confirmed the band's involvement with the movie to the web site. Based on the long-running Marvel comic book, "The Fantastic Four" follows four astronauts who gain superpowers after being exposed to cosmic radiation. The movie, which hits theaters on July 8, stars Jessica Alba as the Invisible Girl, Michael Chiklis as the Thing, Ioan Gruffudd as Mr. Fantastic and Chris Evans as the Human Torch.

[muthagoose]

According to the Cleveland Scene, VELVET REVOLVER entered Lakewood, Ohio's Lava Room Recordings on May 16 to finish recording "Come On Come In", a track for the upcoming "Fantastic Four" soundtrack. The group got into town in the afternoon, and singer Scott Weiland and producer Doug Grean immediately hit the studio to finish vocals for the track. Lava Room partner and chief engineer Mike Brown engineered the session.

"It's a great track," says Brown. "It's pretty aggressive. Scott was really rippin'. He did a few megaphone parts, bringing some of the STONE TEMPLE PILOTS parts to the band. They were definitely professionals. Scott's really serious about what he does, a real perfectionist. They were very easy to work with. We had a good time."

While the newly sober Weiland was working, ex-Gunners Slash and Duff McKagan were hanging at Rockstar, the upstairs bar at Peabody's that's been visited in recent months by members of HOOBASTANK, THE USED, and SLIPKNOT. Former GNR guitarist Gilby Clarke was playing Peabody's that night, and Duff joined Clarke's band for sleazy renditions of GUNS' "It's So Easy" and the STOOGES' "I Wanna Be Your Dog". Slash then joined the band for a cover of THE BEATLES' "Helter Skelter", and Clark stepped back in for Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door".

[muthagoose]

From blabbermouth.net:

Contrary to Internet rumors and speculation by Finnish magazine Iltalehti (see article scan at this location), VELVET REVOLVER are NOT breaking up. Even though the band have cancelled some European shows (including Finland's Ruisrock festival) after the Live 8 benefit concert (scheduled for July 2 in London's Hyde Park), they are only taking a little bit of time off from the exhausting tour that they've been on for over a year, so they can rock the U.S. even better after a well-deserved break.

"Come On, Come In" is among the tracks appearing on the "Fantastic Four" soundtrack, due July 5 from Wind-Up. The first single from the album is "Everything Burns" by former EVANESCENCE member Ben Moody, featuring Anastacia. "Fantastic Four" also features a cuts from ALTER BRIDGE, SIMPLE PLAN and SUM 41, among others.

[muthagoose]

Launch Radio Networks is reporting that VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland made the German branch of the band's label, Sony BMG Music, uneasy after executives there learned that Weiland had recently been wearing a Nazi SS hat onstage. According to NewYorkMetro.com, a letter from the German office to the U.S. office read in part, "We absolutely don't want to interfere in how our artists dress (but) any kind of wearing/ presenting Nazi symbols in public is strictly forbidden by law in Germany and can lead to getting arrested!"

Weiland responded, "The Nazi SS hat that I wear in fact symbolizes the loss of democracy and the shift to totalitarianism...one could make an argument that indeed the government of the U.S. is evolving into, or is already, a fascist police state, hiding under the guise of a republic."

Although Weiland's struggles with drugs threatened his involvement with VELVET REVOLVER early in the band's existence, drummer Matt Sorum told Launch it wouldn't be the same group without him. "As soon as Scott came on board, it definitely took on a more contemporary feel, you know, 'cause it could've gone another way if we would've gotten another singer, you know," Sorum said. "That's the reason we waited so long, and it wasn't an easy task, but we knew we had to do the right thing as far as the frontman, because, you know, it could've been sort of a quick 'go out there and do the whole retro vibe' and then it's over, you know."

VELVET REVOLVER has contributed a brand new song called "Come On, Come In" to the soundtrack to the upcoming movie "The Fantastic Four", which arrives in stores on July 5th.

The group is still scheduled to perform at the Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park on July 2.

The band will play some headlining shows in mid-August and appear on the final eight dates of this summer's Ozzfest, beginning on August 23.

[muthagoose]

VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland has rejected Internet rumors that the band have scrapped the final five shows of their ongoing European tour because he has fallen off the wagon and will be re-entering rehab. In a posting on the group's official web site, Weiland writes, "Christ! You people are like locusts! Every day there's more bullshit. I must be absolutely mesmerizing! You all seem to be enraptured and in need of your rock & roll fables.

1. A few days ago I was a Nazi.

2. Then the end of the Euro tour is cancelled because Slash and I hate each other.

3. Now I hear I'm going to rehab.

"Get a fucking life!!"

[muthagoose]

According to The Los Angeles Times, a Pasadena court commissioner Tuesday (July 12) dismissed a drug case against Scott Weiland, the former lead singer of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and current frontman for VELVET REVOLVER, because he has completed a rehab program under Proposition 36.

The 37-year-old rocker, who was charged in May 2003 with possessing heroin and cocaine, faced up to three years in prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Harrold said. But the voter-passed law permits petty drug offenders such as Weiland to undergo treatment instead of jail.