Dean Deleo is one of the most popular and richest Guitarist who was born on August 23, 1961 in Newark, New Jersey, United States. The lead guitarist of The Stone Temple Pilots who also collaborated with the band Talk Show and Army of Anyone.
Guitar World ranked Stone Temple Pilots album from 1994 Purple among the top guitar albums of all time, ahead of The Guitar World ranked Stone Temple Pilots’ 1994 album Purple as one of the greatest guitar albums of all time, just beating out Rivers Cuomo and Weezer. and Weezer.
Dean’s younger brother Robert met future vocalist Scott Weiland at a Black Flag concert. Robert soon after introduced Dean to Scott and an idea of forming a band was brought up. Dean was a guitarist and Robert managed to convince him to join. They eventually hooked up with drummer Eric Kretz, and the band was formed. They took the name Mighty Joe Young, inspired by the movie of the same name. They played gigs in many bars around San Diego and the Hollywood area, and eventually landed a record deal with Atlantic Records in 1992. However, they were forced to change their name, as the name “Mighty Joe Young” had already been taken by a blues musician. Weiland decided on the name “Stone Temple Pilots”; although he stated that it has no real meaning, he just liked the initials “STP”.
DeLeo’s playing has received strong critical acclaim over the years. Stone Temple Pilots’ second album, Purple, released in 1994, was ranked at #73 on Guitar World’s 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All-time list.
His younger brother is a bassist with Stone Temple Pilots.
