Stone Temple Pilots are an American rock band from San Diego that consisted of Scott Weiland, brothers Dean DeLeo and Robert DeLeo, Eric Kretz. The band's line-up remained unchanged from its formation in 1989 until the firing of Weiland in February 2013. Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington joined the band in May 2013, but left amicably in November 2015 to focus on Linkin Park. On December 3, 2015, Weiland was found dead on his tour bus before a performance with his band The Wildabouts, Bennington died on July 20, 2017. In 2016, the band launched an online audition for a new lead vocalist and announced Jeff Gutt as the new lead singer of the band on November 14, 2017. After forming in 1989 under the name Mighty Joe Young, the band signed with Atlantic Records and changed its name to Stone Temple Pilots; the band's debut album, released in 1992, was a major commercial success and STP went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s, selling more than 18 million albums in the United States and 40 million worldwide.

The band released four more studio albums: Purple, Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, No. 4, Shangri-La Dee Da, before separating in 2002, after which the band members partook in various projects. The band reconvened in 2008 for a reunion tour, released their self-titled sixth album in 2010, toured until Chester Bennington's departure; the band's only material with Bennington was the EP High Rise in 2013. STP has released two albums with Gutt on vocals. While rising to fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, further releases from the band expressed a variety of influences, including psychedelic rock, bossa nova and classic rock; the band's evolution throughout the 1990s and early 2000s involved periods of commercial highs and lows, brought about in part by Weiland's well-publicized struggles with drug addiction. Two conflicting stories of how frontman Scott Weiland and bassist Robert DeLeo met have been described by the band, they began only to realize they were dating the same woman.

However, instead of letting this come between them, they developed a bond and formed a band after they each subsequently broke it off with the girl. Weiland presented a different version of meeting Robert in his autobiography, stating that Weiland and his friends—guitarist Corey Hicock and drummer David Allin—pursued Robert after witnessing him play live with him sitting in during sets at various gigs with their band Soi Disant. However, after a few years Allin went his separate way pursuing other interests; the remaining members witnessed drummer Eric Kretz play in a Long Beach club and convinced him to join the band. Guitarist Hicock left the band in 1989. At the time, Dean was a successful businessman who had left behind his previous career as a musician, but still played guitar as a hobby; the band managed to convince Dean to play guitar for completing the original STP lineup. Dean refused to continue playing in a band called "Swing," and shortly afterwards the band became Mighty Joe Young.

The band recorded a demo tape, completed around 1990. The Mighty Joe Young demo features tracks that would go on to be re-recorded for the band's first studio album, as well as some musical styles that would not be featured on any of STP's studio albums, such as funk and yodeling. Mighty Joe Young played several gigs in the San Diego area, their first show was supporting Henry Rollins at the Whisky a Go Go. The group began to work on their debut album with Brendan O'Brien. During the recording, they received a call from their lawyer who informed them that there was a bluesman who had claimed the name Mighty Joe Young. Inspired by the STP Motor Oil stickers that the band members were fans of in their youth, various ideas on the initials "STP" were shared by the band, including "Shirley Temple's Pussy" and Stereo Temple Pirates, they settled on the name "Stone Temple Pilots." Stone Temple Pilots developed a fan base in San Diego clubs. In 1992, Stone Temple Pilots signed with Atlantic Records, their first album, was released on September 29, 1992, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Albums Chart.

Core was a big success, producing hits "Sex Type Thing," "Plush," "Creep", "Wicked Garden." While the album was a major commercial success, some in the music press criticized the band as "grunge imitators." The same year, Scott Weiland and Dean DeLeo played an acoustic version of "Plush" on the MTV show "Headbanger's Ball." This is considered one of Weiland's greatest vocal performances. Despite negative reviews from some critics, Stone Temple Pilots continued to gain fans, they toured for four weeks, opening for bands such as Rage Against Megadeth. 1993 brought continued success on the road, with the band headlining a two-and-a-half-month American tour. In 1993, the band filmed an episode of MTV Unplugged, where they debuted the song "Big Empty." In a January 1994 Rolling Stone poll, the band was voted Best New Band by Rolling Stone's readers and Worst New Band by the magazine's music critics. The following month the group won Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist at the American Music Awards.

In March 1994, the group won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Plush"

Great Zeppelin: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin is a cover album released by the American hard rock band Great White in 1998, dedicated to songs of Led Zeppelin. It was recorded live in a concert that took place at The Galaxy Theatre of Santa Ana, California, USA, in December 1996 and released by the French label Axe Killer; the American edition was issued by Deadline Records in 1999. Deadline Records issued a rare vinyl version of the album in 1999, omitting 4 tracks due to time limitations of vinyl. Songs from this album appear on many compilations and on re-issues of older albums as bonus tracks; the album was re-issued in 2005 by the Canadian label Legacy, with the title Great White Salutes Led Zeppelin. The entire album appears on Great White's double-CD compilation A Double Dose issued by Deadline Music in 2005, along with the album of covers Recover. "In the Light" - 6:06 "Living Loving Maid" - 3:30 "Ramble On" - 5:11 "Since I've Been Loving You" - 6:44 "No Quarter" - 8:02 "Tangerine" - 3:05 "Going to California" - 4:13 "Thank You" - 4:37 "D'yer Mak'er" - 4:44 "All My Love" - 6:12 "Immigrant Song" - 2:21 "When the Levee Breaks" - 6:51 "The Rover" - 6:00 "Stairway to Heaven" - 8:35 Jack Russell - vocals Mark Kendall - guitar Michael Lardie - guitar, keyboards Sean McNabb - bass Audie Desbrow - drums

The ancient Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix has appeared many times in works of popular culture. Vercingetorix appears in the Asterix series of comics, notably in Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield and Asterix the Gaul, he is seen at his surrender to Caesar, aloofly throwing his arms on Caesar's feet causing him to hobble, rather than walk, to his next conquest. Conversely, when Caesar himself relates the story of Vercingetorix's surrender to some of his minions, the Gallic chieftain is depicted as worn out and eager to give up. Vercingetorix rose to prominence as a French nationalist hero during the 19th century due to the efforts of Napoleon III and several "Celtomaniac" historians such as François Guizot and Augustin Thierry, his image was celebrated in numerous monumental bronze statues, works of literature, school textbooks. Vercingetorix appears in the third yearbook of the Marvel G. I. Joe comics, a short story titled "My Dinner with Serpentor" dealing with his surrender due to the origins of pizza.

Vercingetorix appears in the Alix comics series, notably in the album entitled Vercingetorix. Vercingetorix is one of the Great Generals appearing in Civilization IV as well as Civilization V. A 2001 French film, Vercingétorix known as Vercingétorix: la légende du druide roi, released as Druids in English, was directed by Jacques Dorfmann and co-written by Dorfmann and Norman Spinrad, starring Christopher Lambert in the title role, it was neither a critical nor a box-office success, but did far better in Europe than the United States of America. Spinrad went on to write a novel, The Druid King, released in 2003. In the French version of The Adventures of Tintin comic Explorers on the Moon, Captain Haddock calls Thomson and Thompson, "Espèces de Vercingétorix de Carnaval!". Johnny Rico mentions a smaller troop transport christened Vercingetorix in Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Vercingetorix appeared in the 2002 TNT television miniseries Julius Caesar, played by Heino Ferch. Vercingetorix's campaign against Caesar is the subject of Morgan Llywelyn's 1992 novel Druids.

The "King of all the Gauls" appears in the 2005 HBO/BBC series Rome, played by Giovanni Calcagno. He is in the episodes "The Stolen Eagle" and "Triumph". Vercingetorix appears as an enemy character in the computer games Age of Empires. Vercingatorix appears as a named Legendary net-type gladiator in the Freyr Games mobile app Call of Arena. Vercingetorix is the name of a minor character in the manga series Air Gear by Oh! great. In 62: A Model Kit, a novel by Julio Cortázar, a lead character sculpts a statue of Vercingetorix holding under his arm, as the character describes it, "his own decapitated head enlarged by history, changed into two thousand years of schoolboy compositions and the pretext for hollow speeches..." Vercingetorix appears as a French warrior in the Anachronism card game. Vercingetorix appears in the novel Emperor: The Field of Swords – a Novel of Julius Caesar, by Conn Iggulden. Vercingetorix appears in Steven; the Triumph of Caesar A Mystery of Ancient Rome. ISBN 978-1-84529-567-7.

Vercingetorix appears in the 1968 play Caesar at the Rubicon by Theodore H. White. Vercingetorix is last of The Undying to be fought on Gran Pulse in Final Fantasy XIII. In the 2nd Season of Robot Wars, a contesting robot was named Vercingetorix. In Robot Wars Extreme, they changed the name to a pun on the original name; the song Kingdom Come Undone by Eluveitie mentions Vercingetorix and the battle of Alesia. Vercingetorix - or - VX is a vineyard just outside Oregon. Vercingetorix is referenced several times in Katharine Kerr's "Deverry" novels, both by his own name and as "Gwercongetoryc" in the'Deverrian dialect.' Vercingetorix was portrayed by Mathew Baynton in a sketch on the popular BBC children's comedy program Horrible Histories, showing the Gaulish sentries' retreat in the rain at the siege of Avaricum. The village of Alise-Sainte-Reine holds a yearly festival celebrating Vercingetorix; the anime Code Geass: Akito the Exiled has a Knightmare Frame named Vercingetorix piloted by Shin Hyuga Shaing.

Vercingetorix is featured as a playable commander in the video game Total War: Arena. Vercingetorix is a playable character in "Gods of Rome". Vercingetorix appears in Celtic Kings: Rage of War against the Roman Empire and the Gauls