Stone Temple Pilots - Legacy

Legacy

Core, certified 8× platinum by the RIAA, drove the band to popularity. STP went on to become one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling nearly 40 million records worldwide, including 17.5 million units in the United States, before their dissolution in 2003. The band has had 16 top ten singles on the Billboard rock charts, eight of which peaked at No. 1, and one No. 1 album for Purple in 1994. That same year, the band won a Grammy for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for the song "Plush" from the album Core. Stone Temple Pilots were also ranked No. 40 on VH1's The 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

Despite being unpopular with critics in their heyday, Stone Temple Pilots have proved to be a popular and influential act. In retrospect, MTV writer James Montgomery published an article questioning the validity of music critics opinions of the band during the 90's, saying, "All I'm suggesting is that perhaps it's time to admit that we were wrong about them from the get-go — that we treated them unfairly." In a review of the band's 2003 greatest hits collection Thank You, Allmusic critic Stephen Erlewine wrote that "STP made music that sounded great at the time and even better now," and that "this music has stood the test of the time," calling Thank You "nearly perfect." Erlewine also wrote that "STP was the best straight-ahead rock singles outfit of their time."

Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins noted the band's importance in the early 2010s, saying "If you look at the popular bands of our generation, like Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Hole, Nirvana and others, you see now clearly that the bands were very influential, very important not only for music but for culture, fashion…"

The band's music has left an impact on many younger bands. Chris Daughtry and Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington are self professed STP fans; Chester joined the band on stage for renditions of "Dead & Bloated" and "Wonderful" in 2001. Bands such as Seether, Evanescence, and The Academy Is... have covered Stone Temple Pilots songs. Following STP's 2008 reunion, many younger bands of that time period performed with the band, including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Cage the Elephant, and Hurt.