Post by Bret Walker on Apr 22, 2002 8:28:29 GMT -5
Former Alice in Chains singer dead at 34
BY DEAN GOODMAN
LOS ANGELES - (Reuters) - The lead singer of Alice in Chains, the defunct rock band whose morbid songs about death and decay sold millions of albums during the "grunge" revolution of the 1990s, has died of a possible drug overdose, a Seattle police spokesman said on Saturday.
The body of Layne Staley, 34, was discovered at his apartment in the University District on Friday night, after police responded to a call from a friend who had become alarmed after not seeing him for several weeks, Police Department spokesman Duane Fish told Reuters. He declined to identify the friend.
Inside, Staley was lying on a couch showing obvious signs of dying from either a drug overdose or natural death, Fish said. Drug paraphernalia was nearby, he added. It was not clear when Staley died. Since no foul play was expected, there will be no police investigation, Fish said.
An official at the King County Medical Examiner's office said the cause of death was not yet known. Staley, however, had battled heroin throughout his career, and often sang about his struggles. The band broke up briefly in 1994, frustrated by Staley's inability to stay clean. It broke up for good in 1996 after playing several opening dates on the KISS reunion tour.
Staley became the second singer of a local chart-topping band with a history of addiction to die in his home. In 1994, the body of Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain was found in his Seattle home several days after he had put a shotgun to the roof of his mouth. Other local casualties include Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone and Stefanie Sargent of Seven Year Bitch.
DRAWN TO DECADENCE
Along with Nirvana and other Seattle bands such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees, Alice in Chains won international fame with its guitar-driven rock, an angsty version of the heavy metal sound pioneered by British rock bands such as Zeppelin and Black Sabbath in the 1970s.
Staley, who was born in Kirkland, Washington, decided to become a rock star in his early teens after reading about the debauched lifestyle. He co-founded Alice in Chains in 1987 with guitarist Jerry Cantrell -- with whom he wrote most of the band's songs -- bass player Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney (Starr was replaced by Mike Inez in 1993). Staley came up with the name while trying to conjure the image of a speed metal band that dressed in drag.
The band signed with Columbia Records in 1989, and worked constantly over the next seven years, recording six albums and touring around the world.
Two of its albums debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts, the 1994 acoustic EP "Jar of Flies" and the 1995 album "Alice in Chains." Hit singles included "Would?" which appeared on both "Dirt" and the soundtrack to writer/director Cameron Crowe's film "Singles," and "Rooster," a tune about Cantrell's Vietnam vet father. The band received four Grammy nominations.
With his pale skin and curly golden locks, Staley played the tortured rock star role perfectly. During his performances, he crawled and crouched around the stage, often wearing dark sunglasses. He kept out of the public eye following Alice in Chains' last concerts in 1996, and grisly rumors about his health had done the rounds of the music industry ever since.
"THE NEEDLE & THE DAMAGE DONE"
Staley often referred to his drug battles in song. "What's my drug of choice?" he asked in "Junkhead," a song from the band's breakthrough album "Dirt" from 1992. "Well, what have you got?" he continued, "I don't go broke and I do it a lot." Death was never far from his gaze either. On the same album, he intoned in "Sickman" -- "Ah, what's the difference. I'll die in this sick world of mine."
Fans and journalists inevitably focused on the dark side -- to the band's chagrin. Staley made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1996 beside the caption "The Needle & the Damage Done." The article's writer noted apparent puncture marks around his hands, indicating all his other veins had been tapped out.
Staley generally shied away from discussing his drug addictions, and the band tired of all the junkie questions.
"He's my buddy," Cantrell told Reuters in 1998. "It's really important to remember that stuff instead of ... the drug addiction, da-da-da -- all the stuff that's always surrounded us."
During Alice in Chains' 1994 hiatus, Staley teamed up with members of Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees to form Mad Season. The group released one album, "Above," in 1995.
BY DEAN GOODMAN
LOS ANGELES - (Reuters) - The lead singer of Alice in Chains, the defunct rock band whose morbid songs about death and decay sold millions of albums during the "grunge" revolution of the 1990s, has died of a possible drug overdose, a Seattle police spokesman said on Saturday.
The body of Layne Staley, 34, was discovered at his apartment in the University District on Friday night, after police responded to a call from a friend who had become alarmed after not seeing him for several weeks, Police Department spokesman Duane Fish told Reuters. He declined to identify the friend.
Inside, Staley was lying on a couch showing obvious signs of dying from either a drug overdose or natural death, Fish said. Drug paraphernalia was nearby, he added. It was not clear when Staley died. Since no foul play was expected, there will be no police investigation, Fish said.
An official at the King County Medical Examiner's office said the cause of death was not yet known. Staley, however, had battled heroin throughout his career, and often sang about his struggles. The band broke up briefly in 1994, frustrated by Staley's inability to stay clean. It broke up for good in 1996 after playing several opening dates on the KISS reunion tour.
Staley became the second singer of a local chart-topping band with a history of addiction to die in his home. In 1994, the body of Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain was found in his Seattle home several days after he had put a shotgun to the roof of his mouth. Other local casualties include Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone and Stefanie Sargent of Seven Year Bitch.
DRAWN TO DECADENCE
Along with Nirvana and other Seattle bands such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees, Alice in Chains won international fame with its guitar-driven rock, an angsty version of the heavy metal sound pioneered by British rock bands such as Zeppelin and Black Sabbath in the 1970s.
Staley, who was born in Kirkland, Washington, decided to become a rock star in his early teens after reading about the debauched lifestyle. He co-founded Alice in Chains in 1987 with guitarist Jerry Cantrell -- with whom he wrote most of the band's songs -- bass player Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney (Starr was replaced by Mike Inez in 1993). Staley came up with the name while trying to conjure the image of a speed metal band that dressed in drag.
The band signed with Columbia Records in 1989, and worked constantly over the next seven years, recording six albums and touring around the world.
Two of its albums debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts, the 1994 acoustic EP "Jar of Flies" and the 1995 album "Alice in Chains." Hit singles included "Would?" which appeared on both "Dirt" and the soundtrack to writer/director Cameron Crowe's film "Singles," and "Rooster," a tune about Cantrell's Vietnam vet father. The band received four Grammy nominations.
With his pale skin and curly golden locks, Staley played the tortured rock star role perfectly. During his performances, he crawled and crouched around the stage, often wearing dark sunglasses. He kept out of the public eye following Alice in Chains' last concerts in 1996, and grisly rumors about his health had done the rounds of the music industry ever since.
"THE NEEDLE & THE DAMAGE DONE"
Staley often referred to his drug battles in song. "What's my drug of choice?" he asked in "Junkhead," a song from the band's breakthrough album "Dirt" from 1992. "Well, what have you got?" he continued, "I don't go broke and I do it a lot." Death was never far from his gaze either. On the same album, he intoned in "Sickman" -- "Ah, what's the difference. I'll die in this sick world of mine."
Fans and journalists inevitably focused on the dark side -- to the band's chagrin. Staley made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1996 beside the caption "The Needle & the Damage Done." The article's writer noted apparent puncture marks around his hands, indicating all his other veins had been tapped out.
Staley generally shied away from discussing his drug addictions, and the band tired of all the junkie questions.
"He's my buddy," Cantrell told Reuters in 1998. "It's really important to remember that stuff instead of ... the drug addiction, da-da-da -- all the stuff that's always surrounded us."
During Alice in Chains' 1994 hiatus, Staley teamed up with members of Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees to form Mad Season. The group released one album, "Above," in 1995.