Noah Weiland, the son of late Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, has unveiled a new song called “Time Will Tell” featuring his father’s previously unreleased vocals. The younger Weiland claims he decided to release the track after someone else threatened to release it in an extortion attempt.
In an Instagram post, Noah explained that he intended to hold onto the song until later in his singing career but was forced to release it after the apparent blackmail threat. He wrote:
“Can’t believe i’m saying this right now but basically i been getting blackmailed by a random number that somehow has a very old version of a song i have with my father. and because of that i am basically forced to release a song i had no intentions of releasing until way further into my career cause this coward rly thinks i’m about to send them $2k to not leak it. sooo, i beat em to the punch.. funny enough, i saw ‘TIME WILL TELL’ written on a bathroom wall the day i got that txt, maybe my dad thought it was time? after years of struggling with addiction, homelessness, ppl hiding my dads $, liars, backstabbers, growing up too fast, losing my bro Gio, old friends turned foes, i been through a lot but the person i was years ago is FAR from who i am now. TIME WILL TELL ft @scottweiland [produced @spencercarrreed ] is OUT NOW on YouTube.”
The song is an alt-pop tune in the vein of Noah’s recent singles, with Scott’s vocals taking the spotlight around the 2:35 mark. Noah further told Rolling Stone that “Time Will Tell” was originally a Scott Weiland solo track from a “super-unfinished” demo.
In his Instagram post, Noah shared a screengrab of a text from the apparent blackmailer, someone he’s “almost positive” he can identify. “If I’m correct then it’s one of my old best friends who’s super jealous of me, so I’d rather just let them sit back and watch,” he further told Rolling Stone.
Noah went on to criticize the distribution of his late father’s music, saying, “Due to the fact that nobody who ‘represents’ my dad actually cares to give the fans new unheard music, let alone keep his name alive in the first place, my friend Spencer Carr Reed and I decided to turn it into a more modern sounding song as if he was still alive and just decided to hop on one of my songs. That was the concept behind it.”
He continued, “I’ve always sort of been conditioned by my family and certain people around me to hate my father growing up. But after all this time I realized it wasn’t his fault and he would’ve never let me go through all the chaos I’ve had to go through these past years of my life.”
Previously, Weiland told Rolling Stone that he’s “not a trust-fund baby” and that his dad was “millions in debt when he died.” Since that interview, it was announced that Primary Wave had acquired a partnership in Scott Weiland’s music catalog, including his work in Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, and his solo career. Monetary terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it assumed that it resulted in a windfall for the Weiland estate.
Check out Noah Weiland and Scott Weiland on the song “Time Will Tell” below, followed by Noah’s aforementioned Instagram post.