ON THIS DAY IN 1992 - WEILAND RECORDED A DEFINITIVE ACOUSTIC PLUSH PERFORMANCE WHILE HIGH AS A ZOMBIE

🎸 On September 29, 1992, Stone Temple Pilots released their debut album, Core. Just over two months later, Scott Weiland and Dean DeLeo walked into an early-morning MTV taping in alarming condition—and recorded one of the defining performances of “Plush.”

As Core began gaining momentum and “Sex Type Thing” reached metal radio, MTV invited the band to appear on Headbangers Ball. Rather than simply sit for an interview, DeLeo suggested bringing an acoustic guitar and performing “Plush.” 🎤

The journey to the studio was anything but smooth.

Weiland later recalled that he and DeLeo were overstimulated from touring and took powerful pills to help them sleep during the flight. After arriving, Weiland vomited in the hotel lobby, while DeLeo became sick after reaching the room. By the time they reported to MTV at six in the morning, Weiland described them as “high as zombies.” 💊🧟

Then the cameras rolled.

With DeLeo accompanying him on acoustic guitar, Weiland delivered a restrained, vulnerable vocal that revealed another side of a song audiences knew from Core’s heavier production. The performance did not need the full band, distortion or arena-sized volume. It was simply a guitar, a voice and a song strong enough to survive the transformation. 📺

The stripped-down rendition developed a life of its own, continuing to receive radio play for years. It was also preserved decades later as part of the expanded 25th-anniversary edition of Core. 💿

Nothing about the hours leading up to that taping should be romanticized. Yet the performance remains unforgettable—a fragile moment captured while everything around it seemed dangerously close to falling apart. ✨

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