Velvet Revolver reform for charity show

Scott Weiland performs with Velvet Revolver in Auckland in 2005. Photo / Geoff Dale

Member of rock act Velvet Revolver have persuaded wayward former front man Scott Weiland to rejoin the band for an upcoming charity show.

The unlikely reunion of Weiland, Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner comes after an acrimonious split in 2008 after the band recorded two albums together.

Weiland returned to Stone Temple Pilots, while the rest of Velvet Revolver auditioned but never found a new singer and has been on indefinite hiatus ever since.

But the death of Kushner's best friend John O'Brien has sparked a Velvet Revolver reunion next Thursday at LA's House Of Blues, Rolling Stone magazine reports.

The band will play three songs as part of a benefit show for O'Brien, a fellow musician who was found dead in his Chicago hotel room at the age of 45, leaving a pregnant wife and child.

"I found out he passed away on August 20, and it was like out of nowhere," Kushner said.

"Next day I was in shock and my wife said to me, 'You gotta have a benefit concert for his wife and you have to get Velvet Revolver back together.' That's how it started."

Other acts on the bill include Sheryl Crow, Tom Morello, Maroon 5 and Stephen Stills.

But Kushner was coy about future Velvet Revolver shows.

"I know everyone's got other commitments, but I think everyone's like, 'Let's get this thing done and get through this and then we'll see'."

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- Herald online