Layne Thomas Staley (born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) 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 guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell. Staley was also a member of the glam metal bands Sleze and Alice N' Chains, and the supergroups Mad Season and Class of '99.

"Man in the Box", the second single from Alice in Chains' debut album, Facelift (1990), garnered Staley critical recognition for his vocal style. 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. However, Staley's deteriorating condition due to heroin abuse 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.

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. 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. From mid-1996 onwards, Staley was out of the public spotlight, never to perform live again.

Staley struggled with 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.

Early life

Staley was born on August 22, 1967, at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington. His parents are Phillip Blair "Phil" Staley and Nancy Elizabeth Staley (née Layne). Staley disliked his middle name "Rutherford" and would get angry every time someone called him by this name. He legally changed his middle name to "Thomas" during his teens because he was a fan of Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee.

Staley joined a rhythm band in Bellevue when he was two or three years old, and was the youngest in the group. At nine years old, he wrote in his Dr. Seuss book, All About Me, that he wanted to be a singer.

Staley was seven years old when his parents divorced, after which he was raised by his mother and stepfather, Jim Elmer. He took his stepfather's surname while enrolled in Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood, and was known for some time as Layne Elmer.

Staley was raised as a Christian Scientist, but was critical of religion in his adult life, stating in a 1991 interview: "I have a fascination with how brainwashed people get with religion and how they'll give up their money, their time and their whole life for a cause that they're sure is right, but I'm sure is wrong. I think there's a lot of people who are scared of life and living and they want to make sure they get to Heaven or whatever. I try to stay away from it as much as I can. I was raised in the church until I was 16 and I've disagreed with their beliefs as long as I can remember, so when I had the choice I chose not to believe in anything apart from myself." Staley also stated in a 1999 interview that the song "Get Born Again" is about "religious hypocrisy".He approached music through his parents' collection, listening to Black Sabbath (regarded by him as his first influence) and Deep Purple. Other favorite bands include hard rock and metal bands like The Stooges, Anthrax, Judas Priest, Saxon, Rainbow, Mercyful Fate, Twisted Sister, Van Halen, and industrial/new wave acts such as Ministry, The Lords of the New Church and Skinny Puppy. He also cited Prince and David Bowie as two of his biggest idols.

Staley began playing drums at age 12; he played in several glam bands in his early teens, but by this point, Staley had aspirations of becoming a singer. In 1984, Staley joined a group of Shorewood High students in a band called Sleze, which also featured future members of The Dehumanizers and Second Coming.

In 1985, Staley and his band Sleze made a cameo in Father Rock, a low-budget movie from Seattle's Public Access Channel. In 1986, Sleze morphed into Alice N' Chains, a band which Staley said "dressed in drag and played speed metal." The new band performed around the Seattle area playing Slayer and Armored Saint covers.

Personal life

In the early 1990s, Staley enrolled in several rehab programs, but he failed to stay clean for long. At one point, the other members of Alice in Chains flew to Los Angeles for weekly therapy at Staley's rehab. During the Dirt tour, Alice in Chains' manager, Susan Silver, hired bodyguards to keep Staley away from people who might try to pass him drugs, but he ended up relapsing on alcohol and drugs during the tour. Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan recalled partying with Staley on tour and said that, "off stage, it was an insane, dark, drug and alcohol-fuelled frat party from start to finish, with Layne [Staley] and I raising hell, behaving like teenagers, staying up for days on end. We partook of whatever drugs came our way. Heroin, cocaine, painkillers, anything." Kurt Cobain's death in April 1994 scared Staley into temporary sobriety, but soon he was back into his addiction. Alice in Chains' managers turned down lucrative touring possibilities and kept the band off the road, hoping that would help Staley. Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready also tried to help Staley by inviting him to his side project, Mad Season. McCready had hoped that playing with sober musicians would encourage Staley. On October 29, 1996, Staley's former fiancée, Demri Lara Parrott, died of a drug overdose. Staley was placed on a 24-hour suicide watch, according to NME, which quoted a friend saying Staley was taking Parrott's death "extremely badly" and had fallen into a deep depression. Lanegan told Rolling Stone in 2002, "He never recovered from Demri's death. After that, I don't think he wanted to go on."

Death

On April 19, 2002, Staley's accountants contacted his former manager, Susan Silver, and informed her that no money had been withdrawn from the singer's bank account in two weeks. Silver then contacted Staley's mother, Nancy McCallum, who placed a call with 911 to say she had not heard from him "in about two weeks". The police went with McCallum and her ex-husband, Jim Elmer, to Staley's home. It was reported that the 6-foot (1.8 m) Staley weighed only 86 pounds (39 kg) when his body was discovered. Staley's body was partially decomposed when he was found. Medical examiners had to identify the body by comparing dental records. Years later, McCallum revealed that two days before Staley's body was found, she went to his apartment to let him know about the death of Demri Parrott's brother, but there was no answer. When she got the phone call to check on her son two days later, she was not surprised that Staley had not responded. There was some mail by his door. Staley owned a cat named Sadie at the time, who was usually quiet; upon hearing Sadie meow, McCallum became worried it was a call of distress. Still not receiving an answer from Staley, McCallum called 911.

The autopsy and toxicology report on Staley's body revealed that he died from a mixture of heroin and cocaine, known as a speedball. The autopsy concluded that Staley died two weeks before his body was found, on April 5—the same day fellow grunge musician Kurt Cobain died eight years prior. Staley's death was classified as "accidental". Staley's Alice in Chains bandmates issued the following statement:

It's good to be with friends and family as we struggle to deal with this immense loss … and try to celebrate this immense life. We are looking for all the usual things: comfort, purpose, answers, something to hold on to, a way to let him go in peace. Mostly, we are feeling heartbroken over the death of our beautiful friend. He was a sweet man with a keen sense of humor and a deep sense of humanity. He was an amazing musician, an inspiration, and a comfort to so many. He made great music and gifted it to the world. We are proud to have known him, to be his friend, and to create music with him. For the past decade, Layne struggled greatly—we can only hope that he has at last found some peace. We love you, Layne. Dearly. And we will miss you … endlessly.

In 2010, in an interview on VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Staley's mother, Nancy McCallum, former Alice in Chains bass player Mike Starr said that he was the last person to see Staley alive and had spent time with him the day before his death, on Starr's birthday, April 4. Starr claimed that Staley was very sick but would not call 911. They briefly argued, which ended with Starr storming out. Starr stated that Staley called after him as he left and said: "Not like this, don't leave like this." Staley died the following day, April 5. Starr expressed regret for not calling 911 to save his life, and said that Staley had threatened to sever their friendship if he did. Starr regretted being high on benzodiazepines that night and having walked out of the door. The interview ended with Starr apologizing to McCallum for not calling 911, but she was insistent that neither she nor anyone in her family blamed Starr for Staley's death. She also told Starr: "Layne would forgive you. He'd say, 'Hey, I did this. Not you.'" Starr still blamed himself for the death of Staley. Starr kept this story a secret until his appearance on Celebrity Rehab in February 2010. During this same interview, McCallum also said that Staley had attempted rehab 13 times, although it is not clear whether any of these attempts were during his reclusive years. Starr was found dead on March 8, 2011, as a result of prescription drug overdose.