Chester Bennington, who is now the new lead vocalist of Stone Temple Pilots, is busy prepping up for the latter's first U.S. tour. How did Linkin Park's frontman became the lead vocalist of the revered '90s rock band?

Bennington, 37, has been very vocal about how much he's been a big fan of Stone Temple Pilots. When he was hired to become the band's new frontman, he revealed to guitarist Dean DeLeo about what he told his wife about eight or nine years ago, he said: 'One day, they're going to call me to be in the band.'

The guitarist, in return, told Nikki Sixx of the Ohio radio program Sixx Sense: “I was on a European tour, in my room, late at night. I turn on the TV and there’s Linkin Park doing this massive festival, and Chester’s hitting it with a Stone Temple Pilots shirt on. It put a smile on my face, it brought me back to home, and I could feel my heart again."

He said that when it was time to think about a new singer, they reached out to Bennington who happily accepted the invitation.

The frontman immediately recorded 'Out of Time' with Stone Temple Pilots and launched the song in May without Scott Weiland for the first time.

Weiland was fired from the band due to his poor performances, late arrivals and addiction struggles, which is affecting the band's career. The members also sued Weiland in May accusing him of using the band's name to advance his solo career.

"It was a quality-of-life decision and that really what it's about. That's where we wanted to be. Chester is a person that's really surrounded by good fortune and that's something you want to be around. It's no longer three guys in a room, trying to make a record or trying to get a tour together — it's four guys in a room," Robert DeLeo, bassist and brother of Dean, said.

Weiland, on the other hand, told Blabbermouth that “There are some issues with STP, but they’re the same issues that have been going on since the end of the last tour.

“Nobody in the band can be fired. No one’s ever fired anybody, and no one’s ever quit the band.

“We really have been together a long time, and I’m proud of that. I really do like those guys. It hurts my feelings when we aren’t getting along because I view them as family."

He has also countersued and claimed that they cannot use the name Stone Temple Pilots without him.

In a recent radio interview with the new Stone Temple Pilots, Dean said:''I just can't believe it even went to [court]. We just wanted to move on in a productive, caring, environment.

"So with that said, we really, really wish Scott the very, very best. I hope he one day finds the light," he added.

Also read:

Linkin Park's Chester Bennington Tours With Stone Temple Pilots As New Singer (VIDEO)