Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley (born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002)[2][3] was an American singer and songwriter who was the original lead vocalist of Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part of Seattle's grunge movement. He was known for his distinctive vocal style as well as his harmonizing with bandmate Jerry Cantrell. Prior to his success with Alice in Chains, Staley was also a member of the glam metal bands Sleze and Alice N' Chains. He was also a part of the supergroups Mad Season and Class of '99.
Layne Staley
Layne Rutherford Staley
Layne Elmer
August 22, 1967
Bellevue, Washington, U.S.
April 5, 2002 (aged 34)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
- Vocals
- guitar
- drums (early)
1984–1998
"Man in the Box", the second single from Alice in Chains' debut album, Facelift (1990), garnered Staley critical recognition for his vocal style.[4] Alice in Chains' EP Jar of Flies (1994), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it Alice in Chains' first record—and the first-ever EP—to top the chart.[5] However, Staley's deteriorating condition due to heroin abuse[6] led him to enter a rehabilitation clinic. He began to work on a side project with several Seattle musicians, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, and John Baker Saunders of The Walkabouts, which came to be Mad Season, while Alice in Chains went into hiatus.[7]
During Alice in Chains' hiatus, reports of Staley's drug addiction began to gain widespread circulation in fan and media communities, in part due to changes in his physical condition brought on by prolonged heroin abuse.[8] On April 10, 1996, the band returned with a performance on MTV Unplugged in New York; it was Alice in Chains' first concert in two-and-a-half years.[9] The band performed three more shows, supporting Kiss on their reunion tour, with Staley's final live performance on July 3, 1996 in Kansas City, Missouri. Aside from recording two more songs with Alice in Chains – "Get Born Again" and "Died" – and a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" with Class of '99 during 1998, Staley had been out of the public spotlight by the late 1990s.
Staley struggled with drug addiction for much of his adult life and later died from a speedball overdose on April 5, 2002, at the age of 34. He was ranked at No. 27 on Hit Parader's list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" in 2006, and at No. 42 on Complex's magazine list of "The 50 Best Lead Singers of All Time" in 2012. Seattle officially declared August 22, 2019, as "Layne Staley Day". Staley earned six Grammy Award nominations as a member of Alice in Chains.[10]
Other projects[edit]
Staley shared lead vocals with Ann Wilson for a cover of Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells", featured on Heart's 1993 album Desire Walks On.[63]
The song "It's Coming After" from Second Coming's 1994 debut album L.O.V.Evil features Staley on lead vocals.[64][65] Second Coming features Staley's bandmates from Alice N' Chains, his former band.[66]
One of the last songs that Staley recorded was a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" with the supergroup Class of '99, featuring guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, bassist Martyn LeNoble, drummer Stephen Perkins, both from Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros, and keyboardist Matt Serletic.[67][68] In November 1998, the group recorded the song for the soundtrack to Robert Rodriguez's 1998 horror/sci-fi film The Faculty.[67] A music video was also released.[69] While the other members of the band were filmed specifically for the video, Staley's appearance consisted of footage pulled from Mad Season's 1995 Live at the Moore video.[70]
A song titled "Things You Do" featuring Staley on vocals was part of the soundtrack to the 2012 film Grassroots.[66] In the film, the song was credited to "The Bondage Boys featuring Layne Staley",[71] but the song had been credited to "Layne Staley and The Aftervibes" and "Layne Staley and Second Coming" when it leaked on the internet years before.[66]