News is circulating that Layne Staley (Alice In Chains) was found dead in his University District (Seattle) home. No news as to cause of death, but a family statement is expected shortly. Seattle's "alternative" station, 107.7 The End will have any news as soon as it's released. An online stream can be found at their web page http://www.1077theend.com

That's terrible.

Has to be drugs, he just couldn't get rid of his problems.

Would've been interesting to have heard a solo album at
some point.

I guess we'll never know.

Alice was the greatest.

Used to love AIC. Haven't listened to them in over 5 years, but man, this still sucks.

I'm sorry, I don't know all of the band members. Is he the lead singer?

Damn, this news is bad. I always heard around here (Seattle) that he couldn't kick the horse. This bad was truly awesome, sad. And 3 day, he was the lead singer of Alice, Mad Season, and Class of '99.

Awful. Alice In Chains was a great band.

It always feels tragic when someone younger than you dies. God bless his mother and father.

I just read about this on another board. If true, I'm sad to hear it. I always held out hope that the band would reform, contrary to what I heard and read, and that Layne would beat his drug problem. Guess neither of those will ever happen. I'll miss him.

it will be raining soon.

some more info here, this is just terrible. i know that Jerry Cantrell and Layne had grown apart, but eventually intended to bring AIC back together.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/145...headlines=true

Never a fan of Alice in Chains...but sad news nonetheless.

This is awful

wholly ****!

I always knew he was the next big musician to go. Damn him and his drugs!

I had always meant to get into AIC, and people whose opinions I took seriously maintained that Staley was very talented.

Sad news. Why do so many talented musicians have to be so troubled?

Here's a story about it from MTV: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/145...headlines=true

There will be a vigil tonight at Seatle Center, 6pm. Presumably this will be at the International Fountain, but everything I've read only says "Seattle Center".

I wish SOME source would confirm this, just to give us some closure on the subject. I'm sure it was Layne - this is something we've all sadly expected, and I'm somewhat surprised it took this long to happen. Layne will definitely be missed.


Very sad...half of Mad Season, dead in the past few years.

[edit]

Well, I asked for it, I got it. MTV story updated to include the body being positively identified...

From AP News:

Alice in Chains Singer Found Dead


04/20/2002 5:15 PM EDT

By GENE JOHNSON

SEATTLE (AP) - Layne Staley, lead singer and guitarist for the grunge band Alice in Chains, was found dead in his apartment, authorities said Saturday. He was 34.

Tests were required to establish the identity because the body, discovered Friday, had started to decompose. The King County Medical Examiner's office did not release his cause of death.

"It was natural or an overdose - that's the way it was determined by our investigators," said Seattle Police spokesman Duane Fish.

Police did not immediately release details on anything that was found at the scene, and a spokesman did not respond to several messages.

With Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, Alice in Chains was one of the most prominent bands of the Seattle grunge scene of the early '90s. The group was known for its dark, menacing sound, which combined grunge and heavy metal, and often wrote about heroin.

In a 1996 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Staley spoke of how his drug use influenced his lyrics.

"I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them," he told the magazine. "Here's how my thinking pattern went: When I tried drugs, they were (expletive) 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."

The group's first album, "Facelift," was released in 1990. It later released "Dirt" and "Alice in Chains." The group's hits included "Man in the Box,""Them Bones,""Rooster," and "Would?"

The latter song was partly inspired by the 1990 heroin overdose death of Andrew Wood, singer of the seminal grunge group Mother Love Bone.

Staley's body was found just over 8 years after Nirvana singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Heroin was found in Cobain's bloodstream, and his head had been so mutilated that he could not be immediately identified.

In the 1996 interview, Staley reflected on Cobain's death: "I saw all the suffering that Kurt Cobain went through. I didn't know him real well, but I just saw this real vibrant person turn into a real shy, timid, withdrawn person who could hardly get a 'hello' out. ... At the end of the day or at the end of the party, when everyone goes home, you're stuck with yourself."

i had always hoped that AIC would get back together . . this sucks

It's a damn shame.

I cant believe this. He was one of my favorite singers goddamnit.

This sucks. This was one of my favorite bands.

I couldn't say I'm surprised though. This guy's addiction got the better of him. Gone to soon.

Sad news

Not surprising, but still sad nonetheless.

What a complete piss off. I have been hoping they would get back together and do something, dammit.

They rocked live.

I have worn out a copy of Jar of Flies.

As my friend who called me today to tell me the bad news said... gives new meaning to Man in the Box.