DeLeo met Scott Weiland (who would eventually become lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots) at a Black Flag concert in Long Beach. They soon realized that they were both dating the same woman. After she moved to Texas, Weiland and DeLeo moved into her San Diego apartment, where they tried to form a band. They eventually hooked up with drummer Eric Kretz, and DeLeo managed to convince his brother Dean to play guitar in their new band. The band took the name Mighty Joe Young. They played many gigs in Los Angeles bars, and were eventually signed onto Atlantic Records in 1992. However, the name "Mighty Joe Young" had already been taken, so the band was forced to change their name and decided upon "Shirley Temple's Pussy" and changed it again to "Stone Temple Pilots", which, according to Weiland, has no specific meaning, other than that it retained the STP initials.