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Layne Staley,
Alice In Chains Singer, Dead At 34
04.20.2002 7:56 AM
EDT
Alice In Chains' Layne Staley Photo:
Columbia
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.]
6:04 PM
(EDT) 
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