Once a week Kat shares a rockin’ and rare video of rock & roll icons doing what they do best!
THIS WEEK: “Angry Chair” / “Man In The Box”, Live At The Hollywood Rock, 01/22/93, Rio de Janiero, Brazil (Globo Broadcast.
WEDNESDAY MARKS 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF LAYNE STALEY’S DEATH – (04/05/2017)
Wednesday (April 5th) marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Alice In Chains vocalist Layne Staley, whose body was found in his Seattle apartment two weeks later on April 19th. Police and medical authorities estimated that Staley had died on or around April 5th — the same date on which Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain took his own life in 1994. Staley, whose long and tragic descent into heroin addiction ultimately sidelined his career and that of his band, had all but disappeared from public view during the last few years of his life. It was only after his accountants notified his mother, Nancy McCallum, than no money had been withdrawn from his bank account for two weeks that she and the police went to her son’s apartment, where they found his remains on the living room couch.
Staley was born in Kirkland, Washington on August 22nd, 1967 to McCallum and Phil Staley. His parents divorced when he was seven, and Layne was raised by his mother and stepfather. He began playing drums at the age of 12, but soon switched to singing and met guitarist Jerry Cantrell in 1987. After rooming together for a while, Cantrell invited Staley to join his band Diamond Lie, which eventually evolved into Alice In Chains. The band, also featuring drummer Sean Kinney and original bassist Mike Starr, eventually became one of Seattle’s biggest “grunge” exports.
Alice In Chains released its debut album, Facelift, in 1990 and became an immediate success, thanks to the single “Man In The Box.” 1992’s Dirt was an even bigger success, spawning hits such as “Rooster,” “Would?” and “Angry Chair.” Yet the album was also a harrowing portrait of drug addiction and foreshadowed the problems that would haunt Staley for the rest of his life.
After several acoustic EPs and a self-titled third studio album in 1995, Alice In Chains virtually dropped out of sight, playing live less and less. Staley did form a side project called Mad Season with other Seattle musicians, which released one album in 1994 called Above. His last live performance with Alice In Chains took place on July 3rd, 1996, when the band opened for Kiss in Kansas City.
The singer’s last recording sessions with Alice In Chains took place in September 1998, when he laid down vocals on two new songs for the 1999 Music Bank box set. Reports of his deteriorating physical condition arose from the sessions.
Little is known of Staley’s life from 1999 to 2002. The last known photo of him, taken in February 2002, is owned by his mother and has never been made public. In his last interview, done in early 2002, Staley admitted, “I never wanted to end my life this way.”
This is the Layne Staley tribute video that played during intermission on Alice In Chains’ 2006 comeback tour:
