Big Empty

Not to be confused with The Big Empty.

"Big Empty"
Australian CD picture sleeve
Single by Stone Temple Pilots
from the album The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Purple
B-side	"Lounge Fly"
Released	March 20, 1995
Studio	The Record Plant
Genre	Grunge [1] hard rock [2] blues rock [3]
Length	4:55
Label	Atlantic
Composer	Dean DeLeo
Lyricist	Scott Weiland
Producer	Brendan O'Brien
Stone Temple Pilots singles chronology
"Interstate Love Song" (1994) "Big Empty" (1995) "Big Bang Baby" (1996)
Audio sample
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"Big Empty" is a song by American rock band Stone Temple Pilots that first appeared in 1994 on the soundtrack of the film The Crow . The band later included the song on their second album, Purple (1994), and was released as the album's final single only in Australia. The song reached No. 3 and No. 7 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts, respectively. The song won an MTV Movie Award for best song featured in a movie in 1995. ^[4]

Musically, the song has a similar format to one of the band's previous single "Creep", beginning with a slow, soft acoustic verse that leads into a loud and distorted chorus with a heavy guitar similar to "Plush". ^{[5] [6] [7]} "Big Empty" appears on the greatest hits compilation albums Thank You and Buy This .

Critical reception

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "'Big Empty' is a perfect encapsulation of mainstream alienation" ^[8] and praised it as a highlight on Purple.

Live performances

The song was performed live for the first time during a taping of MTV Unplugged on November 17, 1993, ^[9] seven months before Purple was released. "Big Empty" was not included when their Unplugged episode debuted in January 1994. However, in May to help promote The Crow soundtrack, MTV placed the Unplugged performance of "Big Empty" into their heavy video rotation, as there was never an official promo video for the song. On STP's 2008 reunion tour, "Big Empty" was the opening song for every show except for the band's performance at the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore on August 10. ^[10]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1994–1995) Peak position Australia (ARIA) [11] 63 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [12] 47 US Radio Songs ( Billboard ) [13] 50 US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [14] 7 US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [15] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1994) Position US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard) [16] 10 US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard) [16] 36

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Big Empty"

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
Australia	March 20, 1995	CD cassette	Atlantic	[17]

References

1. Michael, Danaher (August 4, 2014). "The 50 Best Grunge Songs". Paste . Retrieved September 20, 2021.
2. Reed, Ryan (September 12, 2022). "Stone Temple Pilots Albums Ranked". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
3. Multiple sources:
   • Childers, Chad. "25 Years Ago: Stone Temple Pilots Release 'Purple' Album". Loudwire . Retrieved July 9, 2019.
   • Long, Christopher (June 2, 2019). "Stone Temple Pilots – 'Purple' [Retro Album Review]". V13 Media. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
   • Doherty, Niall (July 12, 2023). "How Stone Temple Pilots' Purple album captured a band at their peak". Louder Sound . Retrieved October 26, 2024.
4. "1995 Movie Awards | Past Movie Awards | Awards Show Highlights and Winners | MTV". www.mtv.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
5. True, Chris. "Big Empty - Stone Temple Pilots". AllMusic . Retrieved October 26, 2024.
6. Deville, Chris (June 6, 2014). "Purple Turns 20". Stereogum . Retrieved October 26, 2024.
7. Tucker, Kara (June 7, 2024). "Still Remains: Stone Temple Pilots' Purple at 30". Rock and Roll Globe. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
8. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Stone Temple Pilots: Purple –". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
9. "See Stone Temple Pilots Play "Big Empty" During MTV 'Unplugged' Session". Revolver. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
10. "Search for setlists: stone temple pilots (page 3) | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
11. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 21 May 1995". ARIA . Retrieved April 25, 2017– via Imgur.
12. "Stone Temple Pilots – Big Empty". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
13. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
14. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
15. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
16. "The Year in Music". Billboard . Vol. 106, no. 52. December 24, 1994. p. YE-62. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
17. "New Release Summary – Product Available from : 20/03/95: Singles". The ARIA Report . No. 266. March 19, 1995. p. 20.