Stone Temple Pilots Reunited In Hopes Of Opening For Led Zeppelin, Bassist Says

'If time allows, there will definitely be new music,' Robert DeLeo adds of STP's future.
By Chris Harris


Stone Temple Pilots' Robert DeLeo and Scott Weiland
Photo: Charley Gallay/ Getty Images

There are a number of reasons why Stone Temple Pilots decided to reunite after nearly five years apart — some are obvious, and others, not so much.

Of course, the financial windfall of reviving the grunge stalwarts for an extensive U.S. tour was too good to pass up, and bassist Robert DeLeo readily admits as much. And then there are the fans, the ones who had been with STP since the very beginning as well as those who discovered the band only after it first split back in 2003 and who, woefully, have yet to catch the Pilots live.

On a more personal level, though, Stone Temple Pilots' resurrection was purely selfish, and very much an anticipatory (not to mention optimistic) move on the band's part: If, after the months and months of rumors and denials, there ever is a full-on Led Zeppelin reunion tour, STP wanted to be ready to offer their services as an opening act.

"Believe me, that was one of the reasons," laughed DeLeo. "We thought, 'We should get together now, in case Zeppelin does tour.' I'm serious, man. That would be one hell of a bill: STP and Led Zeppelin. I mean, we could play a doghouse, out in the middle of the ocean, and if I got to play with Zeppelin, that would be a highlight of my life."

Yes, DeLeo — and the rest of the band — had several reservations about raising STP from the dead — a feat DeLeo jokingly referred to as "Mission Impossible." For the band's members, the idea of regrouping was terrifying at first, but with time, the boys settled their differences and tried to think positive.

"For me, it was about putting down some of the things that I was used to getting bitten by," explained the bassist — who, with guitar-playing brother Dean DeLeo, has been collaborating with Peter Frampton on material for his next LP. "After you get bitten, it's hard to go back. I wanted to go into this with an open frame of mind and a positive attitude and just have fun with it. We should have fun with it, which God knows we didn't always have with our career when we were younger. If that's all I can say, and that's what I can get out of this reunion, great.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say there's a lot of unfinished business that we didn't get around to the first go," he continued. "Enough time has gone by, and it feels really good to be back. I don't really want to put too much thought into how it feels — I'm just kind of going with it and keeping a good positive attitude about it. I just needed to get over the things that we all needed to get over, and that's been working so far. If everyone shows up and does this thing, I think it's going to be really amazing."

DeLeo claims that during recent rehearsals, STP were "sounding as good as ever," and he credits sobriety as part of the reason the band's in tip-top shape.

"My brother's going on four years of sobriety," he said. "We have a lot more clarity in the band now, and I think with clarity comes appreciation. I saw that the other night, when we played [a secret gig in Los Angeles]. I saw it in my eyes, and in the eyes of the rest of the band. There's a lot more rock in this band now."

As for an STP record, DeLeo is not 100 percent sure that's going to happen. The goal for STP over the next few weeks, he said, is to reacquaint themselves with their songbook and prepare for their return to the road. Once the band is back in that mindset, the bassist said new STP material is very possible.

"I've always got stuff written, and there's always a long list of songs that are always there — it's a matter of timing," DeLeo said. "If time allows, there will definitely be new music. I think it would be silly not to release new music. I'd like to believe we still have a writing relationship, but the first step is getting reacquainted with what we know."

While STP were on hiatus, frontman Scott Weiland teamed up with Velvet Revolver, and the DeLeo brothers joined forces with Filter's Richard Patrick for Army of Anyone — who are now on hiatus after releasing a poorly received self-titled LP. Does DeLeo foresee an AOA reunion somewhere down the line?

"You never know," he said. "It's just like STP — I didn't know if I was going to return. Whether we get back together and do anything, I think we made a great record, bottom line. That's all that matters to me. If we make another one, I want to make sure it's great, and that applies to STP and anything I do. But I was pretty heartbroken over [the feeble response to AOA's album]."

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Robert Pattinson Says Making 'Water For Elephants' Was 'Magical'

'I just wanted to show I can be Jacob too,' he jokes to MTV News about his character's 'Twilight'-ready name.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Robert Pattinson
Photo: MTV News

"MTV First: Robert Pattinson" was barely seconds old before the man of the hour started to feel just a little bit overwhelmed. After we told him that his fans had tweeted in 50,000 questions, he cracked, "Do I have to answer every single one?"

Considering that would probably require Pattinson to hang around with us until the first part of "Breaking Dawn" hits theaters in November, we'll let the guy off the hook. But before we even hit the first of our Twitter questions, we revealed an exclusive "Water for Elephants" clip and asked Rob about shooting the upcoming drama opposite Reese Witherspoon.

"It felt like it was kind of magical in many ways, because we were out in the desert shooting," he said. "There was nothing from the modern world around. It was a different experience for me. It wasn't in a studio or anything."

Sure, it was different, but there remains something oddly familiar about "Water for Elephants": a sweeping romantic story, a love triangle and a character named Jacob. Sound a bit like "Twilight," anyone? The twist, though, is that this time Pattinson is the one playing Jacob.

"I just wanted to show I can be Jacob too. That's the only reason I did the movie. I just looked at the name. There was an elephant, my name is Jacob — done," he said, adding with a laugh, "The next movie I'm doing, I'm called Taylor in it."

The movie is definitely a major step in his career, as he leaps from a blockbuster vampire franchise to a major studio project co-starring Oscar winners Witherspoon and Cristoph Waltz. Only after production wrapped and he began to make the press rounds, though, did he begin to get a bit anxious.

"I wasn't nervous at all until I started doing interviews for it and I realized I actually did a movie," he told us. "It was just really fun while I was doing it. And now I remembered I actually made a movie. I think it's going to be great. It's really beautiful. It was really fun making it, so hopefully it will reflect in the movie."

Check out everything we've got on "Water for Elephants."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

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Usher To Donate Gadhafi Money To Charity

'I will be donating all of my personal proceeds...to various human rights organizations,' singer says of concert linked to Libyan dictator.
By Shawn Adler


Usher (file)
Photo: Getty Images

R&B superstar Usher announced Friday (March 4) that he was donating to various charities proceeds from appearing at a private event at St. Barts linked to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, according to a statement made to the Associated Press.

The Grammy award winner's renouncement comes after similar announcements from singers Mariah Carey, Nelly Furtado, and Beyoncé, all of whom were revealed to have performed at private concerts linked to the Middle Eastern leader, who has faced open revolt and major political uprisings since February.

"I am sincerely troubled to learn about the circumstances surrounding the Nikki Beach St. Bart's event that took place on New Year's Eve 2009," Usher said of the concert, at which he appeared alongside Beyoncé but did not perform. "I will be donating all of my personal proceeds from that event to various human rights organizations."

Usher has already begun the process, having made a donation to Amnesty International, the AP reports. The exact size of the donation is not known.

The New Year's Eve gig was reportedly for Moammar's fourth son Muastassim, who an unnamed music industry source told MTV News has a history of throwing lavish parties "jammed" with supermodels.

Beyoncé, who sang at the event, donated all proceeds from her performance to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, established in the wake of the Haitian earthquake.

"All monies paid to Beyoncé for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St. Barts on New Year's Eve 2009, including the commissions paid to her booking agency, were donated to the earthquake relief efforts for Haiti over a year ago," the "Halo" singer's publicist said in a statement to The Huffington Post. "Once it became known that the third-party promoter was linked to the Qaddafi family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause."

Singer Nelly Furtado tweeted February 28 that she plans to make similar amends.

"In 2007, I received 1million$ from the Gadhafi clan to perform a 45 min. show for guests at a hotel in Italy," she tweeted. "I am going to donate the $."

The leader of Libya since a successful military coup in 1969, Gadhafi has reportedly lost control of much of his country as a result of widespread uprisings. The United Nations voted unanimously to refer the dictator to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

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Lady Gaga, Linkin Park Urge Fans To Help Japan Earthquake Victims

Park's Mike Shinoda has designed T-shirts to benefit the relief effort.
By Gil Kaufman


Lady Gaga
Photo: Ian Gavan/ Getty Images

As the situation in Japan continues to deteriorate in the wake of Friday's massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake, the need for assistance has spurred a number of stars to reach out to fans to enlist their help.

Just days after announcing the initial dates of his first tour, the My Violent Torpedo/ Defeat Is Not an Option Show, troubled actor Charlie Sheen announced that he will be donating $1 from each ticket sold to the Red Cross Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund.

Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda has also gotten into the game quickly, designing T-shirts to benefit his band's Music for Relief charity. One shirt features the image of a paper crane-like white butterfly above the LP logo, and the other one reads "Not Alone" in a red, white and blue font. Donations of $10 can be made by texting "MFR" to 85944.

After tweeting on Sunday morning, "Remember as you go about your day please #prayforjapan & if you are able, text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to Japan's emergency relief," Katy Perry followed up later in the day with the message, "Imagine ... if we ALL texted REDCROSS to 90999 we'd have raised over 60 million dollars for #JAPAN RELIEF! BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE! BE!"

A growing collection of stars is urging fans to donate to Japanese earthquake relief. On Friday, Lady Gaga sprung into action and offered her fans a special wristband whose proceeds will go to help the victims.

"I Designed a Japan Prayer Bracelet. Buy It/ Donate here and ALL proceeds will go to Tsunami Relief Efforts. Go Monsters," Gaga wrote. She also urged fans to visit the Citizen Effect website, where contributions will be matched by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy. They've offered to match the first $100,000 donated to a special fund set up to help the Red Cross deliver emergency services to people in Japan.

Other celebrities urging action include Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Adam Lambert, Diddy and many more who've sent their prayers to those affected via Twitter. Britney Spears encouraged fans to donate to relief organizations, tweeting, "So tragic. My heart is breaking for Japan."

Also making pleas were Conan O'Brien, Chris Brown and George Takei, each asking their followers to donate to the Red Cross.

As the official death toll in the worst quake to hit the island nation mounted on Monday (March 14) to 1,833 — with thousands more believed to have perished — Japan was facing a growing threat from a number of hobbled nuclear power plants. A second explosion in two days occurred at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant on Monday morning, just hours before the plant's #2 reactor lost its cooling abilities.

While no significant release of radioactive materials is believed to have occurred yet, the race to cool down and secure the nation's nuclear plants is as urgent as the search for survivors from the devastating natural disaster. New images and video continue to emerge that paint a partial picture of the destruction in towns such as the 20,000-resident Minami Sanriku, which CNN reported had been turned into a virtual pile of rubble by the quake and the ensuing tsunami.

As gas and food stocks run low, Japanese citizens have been asked to ration their supplies while the United States and 69 other nations have pledged to help with search and rescue efforts.

For more information on what you can do to help with earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan, head to MTV Act, or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

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Britney Spears Begins Filming 'Till The World Ends' Video

Spears tweets photo from set of clip for Femme Fatale's second single.
By Jocelyn Vena


Britney Spears' "Til The World Ends" cover art
Photo: Jive

Just one day after announcing she was set to begin work on her latest Femme Fatale music video, for "Till the World Ends," Britney Spears tweeted a photo of herself on the set late Thursday.

Donning ripped tights, a studded leather jacket, matching fingerless leather gloves and a black bralette, Spears is pictured drinking a bottle of water. Her hair is mussed, her makeup sexy and smoky, and she is looking out onto the set.

"Day 1 of the #TTWE Videoshoot," she tweeted. "Just wrapped my first big dance number. Taking a well deserved break people!"

She is working on the video for her second single with Norwegian director and photographer Ray Kay, who has worked with Lady Gaga, the Backstreet Boys, Beyoncé and Justin Bieber.

The video will be shot in L.A. No date has been set for the video's premiere.

Kay tweeted about the news Thursday, writing, "Guess who's set to direct Britney Spears' new video? Yay! Its going to be amazing."

Another behind-the-scenes photo also hit the Web: Taken from an aerial view, the video's dancers, dressed in all black, are seen hanging out by craft services on the set.

Spears recently spoke to Ryan Seacreast about the Ke$ha-penned track, noting her enthusiasm for the song. " 'Till the World Ends' is fun! It's fun. I like it.

It's good energy," she said of the track, which was produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Billboard. "I'm a vibe person, and I think I love good-mood songs, and if it puts me in a good mood, it clicks for me."

What do you think the "Till the World Ends" video will be like? Tell us your ideas below!

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'Paul': Five Secrets Revealed

Among the little-known details about the sci-fi comedy, director Greg Mottola tells MTV News Steven Spielberg lined up his own cameo.
By Eric Ditzian


Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in "Paul"
Photo: Universal Pictures

The origin story of "Paul," Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's new sci-fi comedy about two English guys who encounter a goofy alien in the American Southwest, began on the soggy U.K. set of "Shaun of the Dead" in 2003. The crew had lost so many days because of rain that they started wondering how great it would be to shoot in a location where it never, ever, ever rained.

"We just spit-balled from there," Frost told MTV News recently. "No rain became the desert, the desert became Area 51 and then it was a short step to thinking about these two guys encountering an alien."


Rogen's alien is a little grey dude with a big noggin and huge eyes — a deliberate reference to the clichéd alien likeness on so many kids lunchboxes and doctored alien autopsy videos. Mottola and his team ended up spending a huge portion of their overall budget for the computer-generated alien because, well, for the movie to work, Paul had to look freakishly real rather than laughably corny.

"We had to scale down a bunch of other stuff because we didn't have a giant budget. To do the CGI of Paul was one-third of our budget," the director said. "The actual production budget was kind of small. We wanted Paul to look really good and be good CGI and not bad CGI, so we gave up 10 days of shooting and a second unit for the action scenes, just to pour more money into getting Paul right."

They Lucked Out With their House Band
"Paul" doesn't only contain nods to Spielberg flicks but to a wide range of other classic genre movies, from "Star Trek" to "Back to the Future." Proud sci-fi nerds that the entire creative team was, everyone threw in suggestions for cinematic references. For one scene, Mottola proposed having a band in a roadhouse bar play the cantina theme from "Star Wars." He just didn't know if the band he'd hired actually knew the tune.

"They were a local New Mexico band — and I asked if they could learn the song and they said, 'Oh, we played a wedding for a 'Star Wars' freak. The cantina theme was the first dance,' " Mottola said.

Though the film overflows with sci-fi geekery, Frost and Pegg emphasized that viewers need not be conversant in Klingon to enjoy it. "If this is the first science fiction film you've ever seen, then every science fiction film you see afterwards will be a reference to 'Paul'!" Pegg said.

Check out everything we've got on "Paul."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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'Paul': Five Secrets Revealed

Among the little-known details about the sci-fi comedy, director Greg Mottola tells MTV News Steven Spielberg lined up his own cameo.
By Eric Ditzian


Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in "Paul"
Photo: Universal Pictures

The origin story of "Paul," Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's new sci-fi comedy about two English guys who encounter a goofy alien in the American Southwest, began on the soggy U.K. set of "Shaun of the Dead" in 2003. The crew had lost so many days because of rain that they started wondering how great it would be to shoot in a location where it never, ever, ever rained.

"We just spit-balled from there," Frost told MTV News recently. "No rain became the desert, the desert became Area 51 and then it was a short step to thinking about these two guys encountering an alien."


Rogen's alien is a little grey dude with a big noggin and huge eyes — a deliberate reference to the clichéd alien likeness on so many kids lunchboxes and doctored alien autopsy videos. Mottola and his team ended up spending a huge portion of their overall budget for the computer-generated alien because, well, for the movie to work, Paul had to look freakishly real rather than laughably corny.

"We had to scale down a bunch of other stuff because we didn't have a giant budget. To do the CGI of Paul was one-third of our budget," the director said. "The actual production budget was kind of small. We wanted Paul to look really good and be good CGI and not bad CGI, so we gave up 10 days of shooting and a second unit for the action scenes, just to pour more money into getting Paul right."

They Lucked Out With their House Band
"Paul" doesn't only contain nods to Spielberg flicks but to a wide range of other classic genre movies, from "Star Trek" to "Back to the Future." Proud sci-fi nerds that the entire creative team was, everyone threw in suggestions for cinematic references. For one scene, Mottola proposed having a band in a roadhouse bar play the cantina theme from "Star Wars." He just didn't know if the band he'd hired actually knew the tune.

"They were a local New Mexico band — and I asked if they could learn the song and they said, 'Oh, we played a wedding for a 'Star Wars' freak. The cantina theme was the first dance,' " Mottola said.

Though the film overflows with sci-fi geekery, Frost and Pegg emphasized that viewers need not be conversant in Klingon to enjoy it. "If this is the first science fiction film you've ever seen, then every science fiction film you see afterwards will be a reference to 'Paul'!" Pegg said.

Check out everything we've got on "Paul."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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