Layne Staley: 1967-2002

[elSicomoro]

Layne Staley, lead singer for Seattle grunge rockers Alice in Chains, was found dead at his home in Seattle on Friday.

Alice in Chains were among the front-runners in the early-90s Seattle sound, along with bands such as Nirvana and Soundgarden. They were among the first to sign a major label recording deal, signing to Columbia in 1989.

The band's last standard studio release was their self-titled album, released in late 1995. However, the band made an appearance on MTV's "Unplugged" in 1996, and had released "Get Born Again" for 1999's Nothing's Safe compilation. Staley also provided vocals for the 1995 release by Seattle "supergroup" Mad Season, which featured Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) on guitar and Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees) on drums.

The band had not toured since headlining 1993's Lollapalooza festival, and rumors had swirled for years of Staley's drug addiction.

I listened to AIC religiously in high school and college, as they were one of my favorite bands. Staley had a haunting vocal style that was very distinctive from other singers. The fact that this comes only 2 weeks after the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death (April 5) is rather saddening.

Such a waste of talent.

For your listening pleasure:

Facelift (1990)

Sap (EP) (1992)

Dirt (1992)

Jar of Flies (EP) (1994)

Alice in Chains (1995)

There is also an "Unplugged" CD and 2 compilation/greatest hits CDs.

(Some of the info here has been provided by VH1.com)