After recruiting singer Paul Westerberg, Dogbreath changed their name to The Impediments and played a drunken performance, without Stinson, at a church hall gig in June 1980.

[5] After signing to Twin/Tone Records, by label owner Peter Jesperson who also became the group's manager, they released their debut album, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, in 1981 with an EP, Stink, following in 1982.

In December 2005, he reunited with his surviving Replacements band mates Paul Westerberg and original drummer Chris Mars to record two new songs for a greatest-hits collection.

Stinson further collaborated with Westerberg on the soundtrack to the Sony feature film Open Season, recording bass tracks for 'Love You in the Fall' and 'Right to Arm Bears'.

[12] Steve, Kevin and Brantseg all contributed to the album, Friday Night Is Killing Me, along with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers members Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, Wire Train's Jeff Trott[12] as well as other musicians Greg Leisz, Brian McCloud, Phil Jones and Tommy Steel,[15] with the album being released in January 1993,[12] through Sire/Reprise Records,[14] to mainly mixed reviews.

[12] The When Squirrels Play Chicken EP, produced by Don Smith,[12] was released in 1996[19] to positive reviews with Greg Prato, of Allmusic, stating "fans will undoubtedly be more pleased with his new band, Perfect, which is much more focused, and in the expected drunken-Johnny Thunders guitar-rock style.

Despite completing the album, it was shelved by Regency Pictures, who had acquired Medium Cool distributors Restless Records, which led to the group's eventual breakup in 1998.

[12] The album itself was leaked onto the internet through advance copies sent to record labels,[20] however a remixed and resequenced version of Seven Days a Week, retitled Once, Twice, Three Times a Maybe, was released by Rykodisc[12][20] in 2004. which was, much like the EP, well received.

[21] In 1998, Stinson joined Guns N' Roses to replace Duff McKagan who quit due to creative differences and a desire to spend more time with his family.

[23] Stinson said he came to admire McKagan's musicianship but also added "Guns N' Roses were never my thing" during their early 1990s ascendency to stardom, and he auditioned mainly to have a chance to play with Freese.

[24] Guitarist Richard Fortus described Stinson's role as the band leader and "ultimate musical director" during rehearsals and recordings when vocalist Axl Rose was away.

Jesse Hughes, the Eagles of Death Metal's lead singer, told NME that Stinson took his bass off and threw it on the floor saying "Fuck you, that's it" and threatened to leave the band.

"[27] During the Chinese Democracy World Tour, Stinson played several punk songs during his solo spot, such as "Sonic Reducer" by The Dead Boys, and "My Generation" by The Who, as well as "Motivation" from his first album, Village Gorilla Head.

[20] Stinson played most of the instruments on the album, with the exception of drums,[29] but featured contributions by Guns N' Roses band mates Richard Fortus and Dizzy Reed, who contributed guitars and keyboards respectively,[30] along with drummers Gersh, who played with Stinson in Perfect, and Josh Freese, who was also previously a member of Guns N' Roses,[20][29] as well as Josh's brother Jason, who provided saxophone, and Dave Philips,[29] also of Perfect, providing guitar and pedal steel.

[33] In late 2005, Stinson joined Soul Asylum for a few gigs in tribute to recently deceased bassist and founding member Karl Mueller.

[34] He toured with them for a number of years when his schedule allowed for it, played on their 2012 Delayed Reaction album and was replaced permanently by Winston Roye in 2012 due to his lack of availability.

Described as his most fully realized work in both production quality and craftsmanship of song, Stinson released the album on his own Done To Death Music label and played sporadic dates across the country with Pete Donnelly and Mike Gent from The Figgs, Tim Schweiger, Justin Perkins and Jon Phillip from Limbeck.

Pirner smashed several cheap guitars on stage before Stinson and the band played a cover of The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" to close out the night.

Stinson and the band played eight gigs over four days at the 2012 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Tecas, including a Daytrotter Session and a memorable set at Alejandro Escovedo's famous Closing Party at the Continental Club.

In late 2012, Stinson and Fred Armisen joined Dinosaur Jr. on stage at their You're Living All Over Me 25th anniversary show at Terminal 5 in NYC to play "TV Eye" by The Stooges during the encore.

In 2021, Stinson began a tour of intimate backyard performances fronting Cowboys in the Campfire, his duo with Pennsylvania-based guitarist Chip Roberts.

Early live shows during his tenure with Guns N' Roses featured the SWR amps, but Stinson soon realized that it wasn't suitable for their situation (apparently, it was deemed too loud to be used at full capacity).