Layne Staley

Layne Staley
Layne Staley was born August 22nd in Kirkland ,Washington, 1967. In 1987 while still in high school he formed “Alice In Chains”. Staley was an excellent vocalist with a distinct sound and the band built a loyal following. Signed to Columbia records in 1989 they released their debut CD “Facelift” in 1990 which yielded “Man in a Box”. The CD eventually went gold. In 1992 “Alice In Chains” released “Dirt” which went triple platinum. There sound was considered a cross between “Grunge and Heavy Metal” . Like many of the muscians of the early 90’s Seattle “grunge” movement he dabbled in Heroin eventually becoming addicted. As Layne slowly spiraled downward into the depths of heroin addiction the bands output diminished . Aside from releasing an EP entitled “Jar Of Files” in 1994 and a 1996 appearance on M-TV’s unplugged that was pretty much it for the band’s recording career. In a 1996 Rolling Stone interview Layne stated : “When I tried drugs, they were f*cking 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”. Such is the fate of every heroin addict. Eventually your going to pay for that high, most of the time with your life. On April 19th of 2002 Staley was found dead in his apartment of a suspected heroin overdose. The coroner estimated that Staley was dead for two weeks, placing his date of death on April 5th, the same date of Kurt Cobains death. Layne Staley was 34 years old.