Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland found dead on tour

Scott Weiland, former frontman of the US rock band Stone Temple Pilots, has died at the age of 48, the BBC reports.

The singer's manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed his death on Thursday night.

A statement, on Instagram, said Weiland had "passed away in his sleep while on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his band The Wildabouts".

Weiland had a history of drug problems. He formed the Grammy-winning band Stone Temple Pilots, and was a member of supergroup Velvet Revolver.

TMZ is reporting Weiland's body was discovered on his tour bus outside a motel, near the venue where the band were due to play.

Actress Juliette Lewis was one of the first to pay tribute to the singer following news of his death: "Sad to hear about Scott Weiland passing. He was a once of a kind epic force onstage. Thoughts are w[ith] his family," she tweeted.

Rock band Wheatus, best known for the hit single Teenage Dirtbag, tweeted: "We opened for @STPBand in 2000. I watched them side stage & Scott Weiland destroyed me, he was the real thing. Seeing him changed me 4 ever."

Born in California, Weiland formed the band Stone Temple Pilots with brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo in the late 1990s and went on to enjoy early critical and commercial success.

But the success of tracks such as Big Empty, Vasoline and Interstate Love Song, which propelled the 1994 album Purple to the top of the US charts, was marred by in-fighting among band members.

The band took a number of breaks, with Weiland eventually leaving and forming the supergroup Velvet Revolver - with former Guns N' Roses members Slash (guitars), Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums) - in 2002.

However, the singer's drug addiction issues were becoming increasingly problematic.

In 1995, the singer was convicted of buying crack cocaine and sentenced to probation.

He was jailed in 1999 for violating his probation after being convicted of heroin possession in 1998, and four years later, in 2003, sentenced to three years' probation for drug possession.

In 2008, he was sentenced to eight days in jail after pleading no contest to a drink driving charge.

Velvet Revolver frequently had alter its schedules to accommodate Weiland's court appearances and spells in rehab and the band's 2007 release, Libertad, was the last to feature Weiland on vocals.

They parted ways with Weiland the following year, blaming the singer's "erratic behaviour".

He later returned to the reformed Stone Temple Pilots - but in 2013 they, too, ejected him from the band, claiming he had been "misappropriating" their name to further his solo career.

Reports of Weiland's death began to circulate after musician Dave Navarro reportedly tweeted: "Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has died. So gutted, I am thinking of his family tonight." That tweet later appeared to have been removed.

No immediate cause of death was given in the official statement. The statement asked for "the privacy of Scott's family be respected".

Weiland's current band, Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts, were scheduled to play at a Medina, Minnesota, concert venue, on Thursday. The event was cancelled.