New Stone Temple Pilots Frontman Need Not Apply

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LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 14: (L-R) Robert DeLeo, Jeff Gutt, and Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots performs onstage during SiriusXM Presents Stone Temple Pilots Live from the Troubadour on November 14, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After Stone Temple Pilots got more than 15,000 online applications to be their new lead singer, they went with a guy who did not apply that way.

Jeff Gutt will be the new STP singer. He's a veteran of the Detroit music scene and was the runner-up on the third season of "The X Factor."

Bassist Robert DeLeo heard about Gutt after playing a show with Hollywood Vampires and asked Gutt to try out. STP auditioned more than 30 singers.

Gutt says no one can fill the shoes of late singer Scott Weiland and he's not even going to try.

He says STP's songs deserve to be performed and he's honored the band chose him to help. The new version of STP will release an album early next year. Their first single, "Meadow," is out now.