Scott Weiland has been fired from Stone Temple Pilots, to the surprise of everyone, including him.

"Not sure how I can be 'terminated' from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that's something for the lawyers to figure out," Weiland said in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday. "In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing all of my fans on my solo tour which starts this Friday."

Earlier that day, the remaining members of Stone Temple Pilots, bassist Robert DeLeo, guitarist Dean DeLeo and drummer Eric Kretz issued a basic statement about Weiland being fired through their publicist Kymm Britton.

"Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland," was all the statement said.

The remaining members of Stone Temple Pilots did not offer a reason as to why Scott Weiland was fired.

Weiland says being axed from the band he helped take to the top of the charts caught him off guard.

"I learned of my supposed 'termination' from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press," Weiland said.

Considered one of the premiere bands of the 1990s, Stone Temple Pilot's 1992 debut album "Core" sold more than 8 million copies on the wave of the success surrounding the single "Plush."

The song went on to win a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1995.

Although originally dismissed as another Eddie Vedder-style grunge mumbler, Weiland came into his own as a singer in the group's later material, creating a style that was both haunting and original.

By the time the band's third album "Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop," was released in 1996 the singer had dismissed his manly grumble for a more melodic and musical tenor, heard on the group's more tasteful later hits like "Sour Girl."

Stone Temple Pilots has never performed with a lead singer other than Scott Weiland.

See Scott Weiland long before he was fired in the Stone Temple Pilots classic "Sour Girl":