'I write best songs when I'm miserable'

LONDON: Troubled rocker Scott Weiland is grateful to a troubling year in his life as it helped him write better songs. But it has also cost him his good humour.

Contactmusic.com reports that Weiland, the former lead singer of Velvet Revolver, was fired by the group and was even in jail for some time. To add to his woes, his brother died and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. He channelled all the negativity into his song writing and now has a lot of material.

He also confesses that he has not laughed much recently. Weiland told a magazine: "It's been a rough year for me. My brother died, my mother got cancer and my wife and I have our issues. It hasn't been the greatest year for a belly of laughs. But then it's been a great year for my music. The thing is, unfortunately, I write the best songs when I'm miserable."