Layne Staley 1967-2002

Alice In Chains Singer, Dead At 34

04.20.2002 7:56 AM EDT

Alice in Chains' Layne Staley was found dead in his Seattle home on Friday evening.

The King County Medical Examiner positively identified Staley's body on Saturday (April 20), following an autopsy. Exact time and cause of death are pending, as laboratory results could take several weeks, a spokesperson said. Staley was 34.

Police responded to a call to check on a person's well-being at Staley's address in Seattle's University District at 5:41 p.m. PT on Friday, according to the police report. Upon discovering the body, which is presumed to have been there for several days, officers called investigators from the medical examiner's office, who arrived on the scene at approximately 7:30-8:00 p.m., a spokesperson said. The body couldn't immediately be identified as that of Staley, whose longtime battle with drug dependency was a central component of his band's music — a dark and bombastic sound that continues to influence artists some 15 years after the group first formed.

With Staley as their scowling, tortured frontman, Alice in Chains claimed a spot as the darkest and hardest band of the early '90s grunge movement, bringing a healthy dose of metal to the new movement. Born in Kirkland, Washington, in 1967, Staley formed Alice in Chains while still a high school student in the mid-'80s. The singer soon formed a friendship with guitarist Jerry Cantrell, who joined the band in 1987 and provided the other half of the group's creative core. Drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr (replaced in 1992 by Mike Inez) soon followed, and the band landed a deal with Columbia Records in 1989.

The band's 1990 debut, Facelift, found a home at both college rock and classic rock radio outlets, chiefly on the strength of the single "Man in the Box." The album soon went gold, and the band followed it with an appearance on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's Seattle love letter, "Singles." With anticipation high, the band delivered Dirt in 1992, pushing AIC to triple platinum status with caustic tracks such as "Angry Chair," "Rooster" and "Them Bones." A prime spot on Lollapalooza soon followed, but the trek would be the band's last major tour and Alice in Chains would be hard pressed to maintain their momentum.

Alice in Chains released the EP Jar of Flies in 1994 and a self-titled album in 1995, but they did not tour to support either offering. During this relatively quiet time, Staley provided vocals for the 1995 debut album from Mad Season, which also featured Pearl Jam's Mike McCready and the Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin. While rumors swirled about Staley's declining health and drug dependency, the group surfaced in 1996 to perform on MTV's "Unplugged" series. Save for a series of compilations cobbled together by Columbia, it would be the last music Alice in Chains would release.

Cantrell pursued a solo career, releasing Boggy Depot (which also featured AIC's Inez and Kinney) in 1998, further fueling rumors that Staley was in ill health. The singer did little to quiet the rumors with his one-off appearance alongside Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins and Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble on a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" that appeared on the soundtrack of 1998's "The Faculty."

While Staley's output had greatly diminished in recent years, his influence hasn't. Traces of the frontman's distinct vocal style and Alice in Chains' thick-as-a-brick sound can be heard in the work of Godsmack, Creed, Staind, Puddle of Mudd, Adema and a host of others.

[This story was updated on 4.20.02 at 4:23 p.m. ET.]

—Joe D'Angelo and Robert Mancini

Police: Heroin Kit Found With Staley

Sun Apr 21,11:27 PM ET
By LUIS CABRERA, Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE (AP) - Heroin paraphernalia was found with the body of Layne Staley, the singer of the grunge rock group Alice in Chains, police said Sunday.

Authorities said Staley, 34, lay dead in his north Seattle apartment for two weeks, his body surrounded by heroin-injection paraphernalia, before a relative discovered him.
Foul play was not suspected, and there was to be no criminal investigation, Seattle Police spokesman Duane Fish said.

"There was nothing suspicious about the death. It appears to be overdose or possibly a natural death," Fish said.

Staley's body was reported found Friday, but the presence of drug paraphernalia and estimated time of death were not initially released. An autopsy was conducted on Saturday, but the cause of death won't be confirmed for weeks because toxin tests were being conducted, the King County Medical Examiner's office said Sunday.

Some 100 friends and fans held an candlelight vigil Saturday night at the Seattle Center.

Behind Staley's snarling, wailing vocals, and Jerry Cantrell's driving guitar riffs, Alice in Chains became one of the biggest acts to emerge from the Seattle grunge phenomenon of the early 1990s, with Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The group's debut, "Facelift," got significant airplay, and its 1994 EP, "Jar of Flies," debuted at No. 1.

The group's hits included "Man in the Box," "Them Bones," "Rooster," and "Would?"

The latter song was partly inspired by the 1990 heroin overdose death of Andrew Wood, singer of the seminal grunge group Mother Love Bone. Some of its members went on to form Pearl Jam.

Staley's body was found eight years after Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Heroin was found in Cobain's bloodstream.

Alice in Chains was essentially in limbo by 1995, as Staley fell deeper into addiction. He spoke of making a comeback, but the band never again launched a major tour.

Staley entered rehab several times but couldn't kick his habit. He was featured on the cover of a 1996 issue of Rolling Stone with the heading "The Needle and the Damage Done."

Several of the songs on the group's album "Dirt" dealt with heroin addiction, and a song from 1990's "Facelift" ends abruptly with the line, "And we die young."

Alice in Chains Singer Dead

Sat Apr 20,10:58 PM ET

Layne Staley, whose dark, soulful voice defined pioneering Seattle grunge-metal band Alice in Chains, was found dead on Friday in his apartment in the city's University District. He was 34.

Staley had apparently been dead for several days when police officers called to his address found a corpse so badly decomposed that it took a full day before authorities confirmed the identity.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the official cause of death. Seattle Police Department spokesman Duane Fish tells the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "It was natural or an overdose--that's the way it was determined by our investigators."

Staley had a history of drug abuse, including a nasty heroin habit that he chronicled in the harsh, often morbid lyrics that made Alice in Chains nearly as successful as their Seattle scene contemporaries Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, and that ultimately sidetracked his music career.

Born on August 22,1967, in Kirkland, Washington, Staley became interested in music at an early age, learning to play the drums when he was 12, according to one fan Website, before fronting glam bands in his teens.

Staley had formed a band called Alice N Chains while he was in high school in the mid-'80s. It wasn't until he met guitarist Jerry Cantrell at a party in 1987 that the final lineup was solidified--with bassist Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney--and the name changed to Alice in Chains.

The band signed to Columbia Records just before the grunge-fueled feeding frenz. Alice in Chains showcased its hard-edged garage-metal sound on the three-song EP We Die Young in 1990. The band's first full-length release, Facelift, followed a few months later and spawned the single "Man in the Box." But it was 1992's multiplatinum-selling Dirt, with the hits "Would?" and "Rooster," that catapulted Alice in Chains to superstardom.

Staley's heroin use increased as the band became more popular. In a 1996 interview with Rolling Stone, the rocker revealed how his addiction inspired many of the tracks on Dirt.

"I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them," Staley told the magazine. "Here's how my thinking pattern went: When I tried drugs, they were [expletive] great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me--and now I'm walking through hell, and this sucks."

Staley said after seeing the heroin-addled Kurt Cobain kill himself in 1994, he was motivated to kick the habit.

I Saw all the suffering that Kurt Cobain went through," he told the magazine. "I didn't know him real well, but I just saw this real vibrant person turn into a real shy, timid, withdrawn, introverted person who could hardly get a hello out...At the end of the day or at the end of the party, when everyone goes home, you're stuck with yourself."

His sobriety was short-lived. After releasing the five-song EP Jar of Flies in 1994 (which became the first EP to top the album charts), Staley fell off the wagon, forcing Alice in Chains to cancel its anticipated tour with Metallica (news - web sites).

The band split up after its 1996 Unplugged release, and Staley dropped out of sight, only surfacing briefly to contribute a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" to the soundtrack of the 1998 teen horror flick The Faculty. (After the band's split, Columbia released three more Alice albums, 1999's Nothing Safe: The Best of the Box, 2000's Live and 2001's Greatest Hits.)

In addition to his work with Alice in Chains, Staley recorded one album, 1995's Above, with Mad Season--a Seattle supergroup made up of members of Pearl Jam and the Screaming Trees.

"I'm gonna be here for a long time," Staley once told Rolling Stone. "I'm scared of death, especially death by my own hand. I'm scared of where I would go. Not that I ever consider that, because I don't."

Alice in Chains' Layne Staley was found dead in his Seattle home on Friday evening.

The King County Medical Examiner positively identified Staley's body on Saturday (April 20), following an autopsy. Exact time and cause of death are pending, as laboratory results could take several weeks, a spokesperson said. Staley was 34.

Police responded to a call to check on a person's well-being at Staley's address in Seattle's University District at 5:41 p.m. PT on Friday, according to the police report. Upon discovering the body, which is presumed to have been there for several days, officers called investigators from the medical examiner's office, who arrived on the scene at approximately 7:30-8:00 p.m., a spokesperson said. The body couldn't immediately be identified as that of Staley, whose longtime battle with drug dependency was a central component of his band's music — a dark and bombastic sound that continues to influence artists some 15 years after the group first formed.

With Staley as their scowling, tortured frontman, Alice in Chains claimed a spot as the darkest and hardest band of the early '90s grunge movement, bringing a healthy dose of metal to the new movement. Born in Kirkland, Washington, in 1967, Staley formed Alice in Chains while still a high school student in the mid-'80s. The singer soon formed a friendship with guitarist Jerry Cantrell, who joined the band in 1987 and provided the other half of the group's creative core. Drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr (replaced in 1992 by Mike Inez) soon followed, and the band landed a deal with Columbia Records in 1989.

The band's 1990 debut, Facelift, found a home at both college rock and classic rock radio outlets, chiefly on the strength of the single "Man in the Box." The album soon went gold, and the band followed it with an appearance on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's Seattle love letter, "Singles." With anticipation high, the band delivered Dirt in 1992, pushing AIC to triple platinum status with caustic tracks such as "Angry Chair," "Rooster" and "Them Bones." A prime spot on Lollapalooza soon followed, but the trek would be the band's last major tour and Alice in Chains would be hard pressed to maintain their momentum.

Alice in Chains released the EP Jar of Flies in 1994 and a self-titled album in 1995, but they did not tour to support either offering. During this relatively quiet time, Staley provided vocals for the 1995 debut album from Mad Season, which also featured Pearl Jam's Mike McCready and the Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin. While rumors swirled about Staley's declining health and drug dependency, the group surfaced in 1996 to perform on MTV's "Unplugged" series. Save for a series of compilations cobbled together by Columbia, it would be the last music Alice in Chains would release.

Cantrell pursued a solo career, releasing Boggy Depot (which also featured AIC's Inez and Kinney) in 1998, further fueling rumors that Staley was in ill health. The singer did little to quiet the rumors with his one-off appearance alongside Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins and Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble on a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" that appeared on the soundtrack of 1998's "The Faculty."

While Staley's output had greatly diminished in recent years, his influence hasn't. Traces of the frontman's distinct vocal style and Alice in Chains' thick-as-a-brick sound can be heard in the work of Godsmack, Creed, Staind, Puddle of Mudd, Adema and a host of others.

Pearl Jam 'Heartbroken' Over Staley's Death

Wed Apr 24, 9:07 AM ET

(4/24/02, 7 a.m. ET) -- Pearl Jam is the latest to release an official statement on the death of Layne Staley, saying the Alice In Chains frontman "will be missed immensely."

"We are heartbroken over the loss of our friend," the group writes on its website (pearljam.com) in an entry titled "Goodbye, Layne." "He will be missed immensely. We feel blessed to have shared life, love, and music with him."

Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains emerged from the same Seattle scene in the early '90s. Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready also teamed up with Staley and Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin in the sideband Mad Season, which released the album Above in 1995, during the peak in popularity of the so-called grunge movement.

Staley was found dead sprawled out on the couch inside his Seattle home on Friday (April 19) with heroin paraphernalia nearby. Toxicology reports are pending.

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

Alice In Chains' Staley Remembered By Mad Season Mate & Rage's Morello

Tue Apr 23, 9:07 PM ET

(4/23/02, 6 p.m. ET) -- Late Alice In Chains vocalist Layne Staley was also the voice of the side project Mad Season, which featured Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, Screaming Trees multi-instrumentalist/drummer Barrett Martin and singer Mark Lanegan, and bassist John Saunders. The group released the album Above in 1995.

Martin shared his thoughts on Staley in a statement. "I learned long ago that a person's addictions and obstacles are merely the outer veneer that hides the true spirit within. If you were fortunate enough to know Layne, you would know what I'm talking about. If we look at his strengths and talents, his gifts to us become clear: His life was expressed in his words and in his music. Listen to them! He said a lot in a very short period of time."

Martin added, "My best memory of Layne was when we were making the Above album. He was in the studio lounge reading Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. I had read it a few years earlier so we started talking about what it meant to be an artist and have a spiritual message...suffice it to say Layne Staley felt as though he was on a spiritual mission through his music. Not a rock mission, a spiritual mission."

Former Rage Against The Machine (news - web sites) guitarist Tom Morello was also devastated by the news of Staley's death.

"Layne and I became good friends on the 1993 Lollapalooza tour. I will always remember him as the bright, funny, and amazingly talented singer who got up there every hot summer day in a gorgeous suit and sang like an angry angel. We would laugh until we split our sides arguing about who was 'more metal.' I hope now he is at peace."

Staley was found dead sprawled out on the couch inside his Seattle home on Friday (April 19) with heroin paraphernalia nearby. Toxicology reports are pending.

-- Darren Davis, New York

Musicians Remember Staley

Former band mates, peers pay tribute to late Alice in Chains singer

The surviving members of Alice in Chains -- guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney -- have issued a joint statement responding to the death of their band mate, singer Layne Staley. "Mostly, we are feeling heartbroken over the death of our beautiful friend," the statement reads. "He was a sweet man with a keen sense of humor and a deep sense of humanity. He was an amazing musician, an inspiration, and a comfort to so many. . . . We are proud to have known him, to be his friend, and to create music with him. . . . We love you, Layne. Dearly. And we will miss you endlessly."

Since news of Staley's death broke on Saturday, his peers and colleagues in music have echoed those sentiments. "We are heartbroken over the loss of our friend," began a statement from Seattle contemporaries Pearl Jam, whose guitarist Mike McCready formed grunge-rock supergroup Mad Season in 1994 with Staley. "He will be missed immensely."

A third founding member of Mad Season, former Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin, celebrated Staley's natural talent behind the microphone. "When he was at his peak of greatness, he was awesome to behold. His command of his voice and natural charisma was a very rare combination indeed and those of us who toured with him and saw him onstage remember the power he held. . . . He was an authentic artist in a time of impostors."

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and Smashing Pumpkins principal Billy Corgan also expressed their sorrow. "I saw Alice in Chains at one of their final performances, opening for Kiss at Tiger Stadium," remembered Corgan. "Layne had an amazing voice that had such a beautiful, sad, haunting quality about it. He was different because of that heaviness in his voice."

Morello, who toured with Staley on 1993's Lollapalooza outing, said he would remember Staley as "the bright, funny and amazingly talented singer who got up there every hot summer day in a gorgeous suit and sang like an angry angel. . . . I hope now he is at peace."

AUGUSTIN SEDGEWICK

(April 23, 2002)

From: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?afl=mail1&nid=15821

"It's good to be with friends and family as we struggle to deal with this immense loss, and try to celebrate this immense life. We are looking for all the usual things: comfort, purpose, answers, something to hold on to, a way to let him go in peace. Mostly, we are feeling heartbroken over the death of our beautiful friend. He was a sweet man with a keen sense of humour and a deep sense of humanity. He was an amazing musician, an inspiration, and a comfort to so many. He made great music and gifted it to the world. We are proud to have known him, to be his friend, and to create music with him. For the past decade, Layne struggled greatly - we can only hope that he has at last found some peace. We love you, Layne. Dearly. And we will miss you ... endlessly."

- the remaining members of Alice In Chains comment on the death of frontman Layne Staley.

He was single-handedly the guy that got me to start singing. To this day, I've never really heard a cooler singer. Alice in Chains was the coolest thing to come out since Aerosmith in the early '70s. They just had this persona about them, a cool vibe, very mystical and dark. Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley were the coolest team to me since Joe Perry and Steven Tyler."

- Godsmack's Sully Erna on the death of Layne Staley.