4 Sad Posthumous Facts About Alice In Chain’s Layne Staley

Layne Staley of Alice In Chains is considered one of the greatest vocalists of the 1990s grunge era. He’s also known, sadly, for his tragic death at the age of only 34 years old in 2002. Staley died, like so many of his contemporaries, as a result of his struggles with substance abuse. And in the wake of his death, some interesting and somewhat heartbreaking information came out about the late great singer. Let’s honor his legacy and look at a few facts about Layne Staley that came out after his death.

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1. He Recorded Music Before His Death That Has Still Not Been Released

After Staley’s fiancée passed away in 1996 and the hiatus of Alice In Chains, he pulled away from the spotlight. During that time, he almost never left his apartment. However, he continued to make music despite his struggles. Jerry Cantrell said in an interview that Layne had a ton of recorded and written work. Unfortunately, most of those songs have yet to be released.

2. He Loved Metal More Than People Thought

Friends and fans of Staley likely already know that the man loved metal music. However, few might know just how deep those metalhead roots went. While growing up in the 1980s, Staley was a bona fide metalhead and even fronted a glam metal outfit called Sleze. Staley’s mother, Nancy McCallum, once talked about how much he loved metal drums and drummers, particularly Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe.

“The drums he loved,” said McCallum. “And then our neighbor sold him a drum set, and he changed his middle name to Thomas.”

3. He Once Saved Mike Starr’s Life

Mike Starr was Alice In Chain’s original bassist. Like Staley, he struggled with substance abuse for years after he was booted from the band in 1993. On one occasion, Staley actually saved Starr’s life. 

While touring in Brazil for a festival, Starr said that he had spent a night doing h*roin with Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. He went to Staley’s room, where he overdosed. Staley told him that he stopped breathing, and the frontman had to toss him into a cold shower to revive him. It’s really heartbreaking to know that despite his own drug abuse problems, Staley still went to bat for his friends.

4. He Struggled More During That ‘Unplugged’ Set Than You Might Think

This is one of those Layne Staley facts that everyone knows and could visibly see, but it was so much worse than most people think. Alice In Chains’ 1996 MTV Unplugged set was incredible, but it was clear that Staley was struggling to get through it. Behind the scenes, things were even worse. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell told a crowd during a 2018 solo set that Staley struggled to rehearse “Sludge Factory’ ahead of the live performance.

“We did it like eight times, he blew the same thing in the second verse,” said Cantrell.

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