How Stone Temple Pilots Turned Tragedy into a Grunge Anthem with “Plush” episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 10, 2026 · 21 MIN

How Stone Temple Pilots Turned Tragedy into a Grunge Anthem with “Plush”

from Professor of Rock

Coming up, it’s a massive hit from a band that was absolutely clobbered by the rock press… At the center of a smear campaign, they called ‘em knock-offs, copy-cats, clones… And they were accused of being derivative of other popular bands at the time including Pearl Jam. Yes Scott Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots took a lot of flack... But it was completely unwarranted… and untrue. In fact, in one Rolling Stone poll STP were voted the worst new band by critics, and the best new band by readers….but It was the fans that got it right. This band was hugely popular. And their breakthrough song… PLUSH was a commercial monster, ruling the rock airwaves and MTV. Written in a hot tub, this mysterious track was inspired by a tragic kidnapping and death, but its meaning is still something of a mystery. For decades, fans have tried to unravel its imagery… A classic by Scott Weiland….Smelling dogs, stolen masks, storms in your bedroom. See if you can figure out what it means. The story is NEXT on the Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 10, 2026

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How Stone Temple Pilots Turned Tragedy into a Grunge Anthem with “Plush”

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