Velvet Revolver splits with rocker Scott Weiland

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Four founding members of the rock band Velvet Revolver said on Tuesday they were splitting with the group's troubled singer, Scott Weiland, citing his "increasingly erratic" behavior.

The announcement came in a terse statement from the group's management company as Weiland, 40, and his recently reunited original band, Stone Temple Pilots, were set next week to announce plans for a highly anticipated summer tour.

The Pilots, also known by their acronym, STP, already have confirmed a handful of upcoming dates, beginning with the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio, on May 17-18.

For Weiland, whose career has long been overshadowed by heroin addiction, Rock on the Range will mark his first show with STP since the band played 13 concerts to promote its last album of new material, 2001's "Shangri-La Dee Da."

Following the breakup of STP, Weiland was welcomed as lead singer for Velvet Revolver, the newly formed grunge rock band founded by three former members of Guns N' Roses -- guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum -- along with second guitarist Dave Kushner.

Velvet Revolver was confronted from the start with Weiland's drug and legal problems as it juggled performance schedules, recording sessions and promotional work to accommodate his court dates and rehab.

Last month, Weiland pleaded innocent to a charge of driving under the influence of drugs stemming from his arrest on a Los Angeles freeway ramp in November. He is free on $40,000 bail and is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on Friday.

A public feud between Weiland and Velvet Revolver's drummer already had cast doubt on the band's future when the statement on behalf of Sorum, Slash, McKagan and Kushner was issued under the headline "Velvet Revolver to Part Ways with Singer."

"This band is all about its fans and its music, and Scott Weiland isn't 100% committed to either," Slash was quoted as saying. "Among other things, his increasingly erratic on-stage behavior and personal problems have forced us to move on."

There was no immediate comment from Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots or their representatives.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb)