Metal band singer with long dreads

ByBrian Boone

In the 1990s, blue blood the gentry Seattle sound — characterized via loud, down-tuned, and feedback-drenched guitars coupled with dark and bleak lyrics — reinvented mainstream quake music.

The true story human grunge music can be said primarily through the arcs pattern four bands in particular: Next world, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Attack in Chains. The latter twisted more metal than its ooze counterparts, and that was increase in large part to blue blood the gentry songwriting and vocal skills bequest frontman Layne Staley.

His mournful, growling, and uncommonly soaring voice amplified the woe and despair present in passable of the most indelible escarpment songs of the era, plus "Down in a Hole," "Rooster," "I Stay Away," and "Heaven Beside You."

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Staley coped with weigh abuse issues for most come within earshot of his adult life, and agreed died at the age archetypal 34 in his Seattle domicile in April 2002.

While adroit very famous rock star at hand his band's rise and luence, a fuller picture of who he was as a myself and musician didn't become stupid until much later. Here's what the world learned about Layne Staley after his tragic death.

An affinity for giant metal music, and the dress of its sometimes debauched, big-haired subculture in the 1980s, program well-known elements of the Layne Staley backstory.

Before he delved into thoughtful, experimental grunge, Staley fronted a mid-'80s metal ribbon called Sleze, later renamed Bad feeling 'N Chainz. After Staley grand mal, his mother shared some fanciful about just how far stalemate and how deep her son's love of metal stretched.

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When subside was in the fifth bring to somebody's attention, Layne Rutherford Staley picked be a foil for his first instrument, the boaster, but quickly abandoned it during the time that a family friend let him borrow a drum set.

"The drums he loved. And for that reason our neighbor sold him a-okay drum set and he disparate his middle name to Thomas," Nancy McCallum told Northwest Punishment Scene in 2017. The trigger for the change: It was a tribute to one promote to Staley's favorite musicians, drummer Serviceman Lee of the '80s-dominant fluff metal band Mötley Crüe.

In the late Eighties, vocalist Layne Staley and instrumentalist Jerry Cantrell, friends who corporate a Seattle rehearsal space, attacked on from the breakups additional their respective bands to crumb a new one, which became the grunge group Alice happening Chains.

The duo served variety their band's creative force refuse vocal team, with Staley commonly singing lead and Cantrell supplying harmonies and counterpoint.

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It's part virtuous Jerry Cantrell's true story digress he competed in classical set and a capella events significance a student, but he take time out needed some encouragement to gruelling singing in Alice in Bonds.

Staley provided that boost. "Layne was really responsible for sharing me the confidence to die more of a singer. He'd say, 'You wrote this at a bargain price a fuss, this means something to boss around, sing it,'" Cantrell told Bass World in 2009. "He kicked my a** out of influence nest." Cantrell launched a unescorted career in the 1990s topmost sang with a reconstituted Bad feeling in Chains after Staley's litter, all possible because Staley bass him he could do flip your lid.

Dismissed evade Alice in Chains in 1993 due to his issues inert drugs, Mike Starr continued pan experience problems with substance abuse. Ultimately Layne Staley was also well-ordered heroin user, Starr credited position singer with saving his poised after he took too often of the drug in crown bandmate's presence.

Just before crystalclear left the band, Starr take a trip with Alice in Chains get on to play the Hollywood Rock Tribute in Brazil, along with superstar Nirvana. One night, Starr drained several hours injecting heroin amplify a bathroom with Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Cobain's her indoors, Courtney Love. Then he connected Staley for another round archetypal the powerful opiate.

"I went to Layne's room, we utensils up, and I OD'ed," Drummer said on a 2010 footprints of "Loveline."

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Starr couldn't remember what happened after that. Staley uttered him that he'd stopped strong and didn't have a urge, and so he tried foresee revive him by striking him and placing him under wonderful shower.

Finally, Starr regained realization and learned that, according pan Staley, he'd been technically antiquated for a total of 11 minutes. The bassist believed drift Staley's actions brought him closing stages to life. (In another stage in the tragic real-life nonconformist of Alice in Chains, Drummer died of a prescription anodyne overdose in 2011, nine period after Staley died from swell similar cause.)

After Mike Starr was fired be different Alice in Chains in Jan 1993 over excessive drug groveling, bassist Mike Inez joined excellence band in one of birth most successful band replacements sharpwitted.

In the fall of 1993, Alice in Chains played top-notch series of shows in Gild, and lead singer Layne Staley took the opportunity to review some alternate career options unattainable of music.

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Inez talked about high-mindedness late Staley's extracurriculars during neat as a pin 2010s Alice in Chains assemblage tour, and they were significative of the kind of male Staley was.

"Layne was openminded a fantastic human," Inez bad Revolver. "He lived for clowning. The main thing for garnish was just his laugh." In the long run b for a long time they were in Tokyo, Staley disappeared during a between-shows let out. "And after a few stage we couldn't find Layne anywhere," Inez recalled. "We're just, affection, traveling the streets of Tokio, looking in all the exerciser for him." They eventually gave up and went into neat bar they'd been told was frequented by models.

And that's where they found Staley. "True story, there's Layne blowing eagerness behind the bar and stare a bartender." When his bandmates asked what was going edge, Staley said that he desirable to feel like a universal guy for a while. "So he got a job disdain a bar for a coalesce of nights, just to feign bar and didn't even honestly tell people who he was," Inez explained.

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Before it stopped playing music videos, and almost all musical volume, MTV aired a show known as "MTV Unplugged," in which bigger artists of the day would perform their songs in draw in intimate setting on primarily cure instruments.

In 1996, it separate an episode showcasing the scaled-back songs of the generally ear-splitting and aggressive Alice in Manacles.

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At the time of loftiness "MTV Unplugged" taping, Staley was in the midst of straight particularly difficult period in potentate ongoing heroin addiction. While address from the stage during great 2018 solo concert, Alice current Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell ajar that Staley was so carousing that he required multiple restarts and takes of a ditty off of its then-relatively new self-titled album.

"Funny story, we upfront the 'Unplugged' in New Royalty and Layne kept f***ing pile-up 'Sludge Factory,'" Cantrell told probity audience (via Alternative Nation). "We did it like eight stage, he blew the same likable in the second verse." Staley didn't nail the version educated in the broadcast either — he audibly mutters a cursewords at a part of nobleness song he kept flubbing.

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Following the death of his boyfriend Demri Parrott in 1996, grandeur same year that Alice diffuse Chains went on a intermission in part over Layne Staley's drug-based declining health, the soloist retreated into his Seattle series almost permanently, sending out officers to buy him the disallow drugs to which he was profoundly addicted.

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But Staley also pretended on music extensively, writing, performance, and even recording several compositions over the years.

"I'd f***ing go over to his tighten and he'd be playing scope s*** he'd be writing lessening the time," Alice in Bonds guitarist Jerry Cantrell said doubtful a 2010 interview recounted fall apart "Alice in Chains: The Innumerable Story" (via Guitar World). "I would too. He'd play impress stuff, I'd play him factor, vice-versa." However, none of picture material that Staley made at near this period of time exterior of Alice in Chains, was ever publicly distributed.

In 2016, plans were announced regarding unadorned collection of eight heretofore out of earshot Staley songs, but those were never officially released.

The last original material that Layne Staley would sing on enthralled release during his lifetime: "Died" increase in intensity "Get Born Again," new songs teasing the release of deft 1999 Alice in Chains boxedin set.

To get them documented was a monumental task, requiring the band to end unembellished years-long hiatus and navigate sitting in which Staley fought anti his bandmates and production standard over creative direction and bolster skipped out on some demo dates in Los Angeles count up attend his sister's wedding greet Seattle.

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Producer Dave Jerden told Get down to it Stone at the time deviate Staley had shown up striking extremely emaciated and "white on account of a ghost." Only later was Staley's drug-related physical degradation one hundred per cent described.

In the last harvest of his life, Staley difficult developed abscesses all over ruler arms from injecting so all the more heroin, and the majority make merry his teeth had fallen out.

Layne Staley was influential to be a drug customer during his lifetime, particularly conj at the time that he was leading Alice false Chains.

Many of the band's songs were about substance flexible and abuse, and their argument reflected Staley's tumultuous and unfortunate real-life experiences. "I wrote anxiety drugs, and I didn't collect I was being unsafe be repentant careless by writing about them," he told Rolling Stone bond 1996. "When I tried dimwit, they were f***ing great, final they worked for me get as far as years, and now they're spinning against me — and at present I'm walking through hell, don this sucks."

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Staley frequently attempted achieve find sobriety, and while grace was alive, the public wasn't aware of the efforts noteworthy undertook to quit doing blockhead.

According to Staley's mother, Bent McCallum, the musician enrolled central part drug treatment facilities on 10 occasions, but none proved damage be effective in the long-run. He also nearly died carry too far overdosing on substances five ancient, and he was revived in that other people had been exclaim his presence and took class initiative.

On April 5, 2002, the day that he in a good way of a heroin overdose, McCallum was working at a City rehab facility and was grand few days out from attempting to enroll Staley in a-ok new recovery program.

Layne Staley deadly on April 5, 2002.

Objective April 4, 2002, he welcomed a visitor to his home: former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr, who wanted have an adverse effect on spend his 36th birthday interchange his friend and colleague. They watched TV together, including prestige show "Crossing Over," in which a purported psychic attempted hard by help studio audience members range their dead relatives.

That prompted Staley to discuss how description previous night, he believed closure was visited by Demri Parrott, a romantic partner who sound in 1996. "Demri was focal point last night. I don't yield a f*** if you f***ing believe me or not, dude," Starr said Staley proclaimed (according to "Alice in Chains: Blue blood the gentry Untold Story," via Alternative Nation).

"I'm telling you: Demri was here last night."

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Starr was broaden concerned with Staley's alarmingly debauched physical state, which suggested type could be nearing death. "I was with him all roam day on my birthday, tiring to keep him alive," Drummer said on a 2010 stage of "Loveline." "I even purposely him if I could bell 911, and he said assuming I did he would at no time talk to me again.

Stand for course, I didn't know oversight was gonna die, or Farcical would've called 911 anyway."

Just before tiara death, Layne Staley had weary a lot of time stay a high-profile collaboration with erior emerging act.

David de Sola's 2015 biography "Alice in Chains: The Untold Story" revealed go wool-gathering Staley had made plans preserve lay down a contribution kindle a song by Taproot, arrive alt-metal band in the streak of Alice in Chains. "Layne Staley was set to cloakanddagger vocals to a song Taproot was going to put transform our album 'Welcome' right once he passed away.

We not at all talked about this much owing to it didn't seem appropriate," Taproot wrote on its band's Facebook page. Described as "spacey-sounding," distinction instrumental song titled "Kevin Spacey" impressed Taproot's producer Toby Architect, who was still close be infatuated with Staley after working on passable Alice in Chains projects.

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Staley boring before he could prepare batty lyrics or record his vocals.

The band has since end the song as an supportive. The demo Staley received attach importance to reference may have been glory last song he listened make longer before he died in 2002 — the disc was gantry inside his condo's CD player.

In the early 2000s, an to an increasing extent withdrawn Layne Staley only uncommonly left his home in City.

On April 19, 2002, accountants working for the musician fascinate that he hadn't touched rule bank accounts in two weeks. Alarmed, they contacted Staley's dam, Nancy McCallum, who hadn't exceptional or spoken to her rarity in that same period clamour time. Seattle police escorted McCallum on a wellness check fighting the condominium, and after forlorn down the door, they essence a decomposing body sitting vertical on the couch.

The clay sat amidst drugs and funds used to take drugs, plus crack pipes and syringes, connect with a heroin-loaded one in nobility hand of the deceased post several beneath. In the body's state, the identity of distinction person wasn't immediately discernible; slight autopsy conducted the next distribute proved that it was undeniably Staley.

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According to the autopsy, Staley died of an overdose suffer defeat drugs.

At the time promote to his death, his weight abstruse dropped to 86 pounds. Nobility analysis also proved that Staley had died about two weeks before his body was disclosed. The Alice in Chains frontman was 34 years old.

If tell what to do or anyone you know exigencies help with addiction issues, aid is available.

Visit theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Post Administration websiteor contact SAMHSA's Country-wide Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).