61 Facts About Layne Staley

Layne Staley 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.

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

Layne 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.

Layne Staley was ranked at No 27 on Hit Paraders 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.

Layne Staley earned six Grammy Award nominations as a member of Alice in Chains.

Layne Staley was born on August 22,1967, at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington.

Layne Staley's parents are Phillip Blair "Phil" Staley and Nancy Elizabeth Staley.

Layne Staley disliked his middle name "Rutherford" and would get angry every time someone called him by this name.

Layne Staley legally changed his middle name to "Thomas" during his teens because he was a fan of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee.

Layne Staley joined a rhythm band in Bellevue when he was two or three years old, and was the youngest in the group.

Layne Staley was seven years old when his parents divorced, after which he was raised by his mother and stepfather, Jim Elmer.

Layne Staley took his stepfather's surname while enrolled in Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood, and was known for some time as Layne Elmer.

Layne Staley approached music through his parents' collection, listening to Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.

Layne Staley cited Prince and David Bowie as two of his biggest idols.

Layne Staley began playing drums at age 12; he played in several glam bands in his early teens, but by this point, Layne Staley had aspirations of becoming a singer.

In 1984, Layne Staley joined a group of Shorewood High students in a band called Sleze, which featured future members of The Dehumanizers and Second Coming.

Layne Staley met guitarist Jerry Cantrell at a party in Seattle while working at Music Bank rehearsal studios in 1987.

Cantrell was homeless after being kicked out of his family's house, so Layne Staley invited Cantrell to live with him at the Music Bank.

Alice N' Chains soon disbanded and Layne Staley joined a funk band, which at the time required a guitarist.

Cantrell agreed on condition that Layne Staley join his band, which at the time did not have a name and included drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr.

Layne Staley got permission from his former bandmates to use the name.

The second single, "Man in the Box", with lyrics written by Layne Staley, became a huge hit.

Cantrell wrote almost all of the music and lyrics for Alice in Chains, but as time went on, Layne Staley contributed more lyrics.

Layne Staley's lyrics are largely viewed as having dealt with his personal troubles, such as drug use and depression.

Layne Staley played guitar on "Angry Chair" and "Hate to Feel".

Layne Staley made his last performance on July 3,1996, in Kansas City, Missouri, while Alice in Chains was touring with Kiss.

Layne 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.

One of the last songs that Layne 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.

Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready tried to help Layne Staley by inviting him to his side project, Mad Season.

Layne Staley was placed on a 24-hour suicide watch, according to NME, which quoted a friend saying Layne Staley was taking Parrott's death "extremely badly" and had fallen into a deep depression.

On June 22,1998, Layne Staley made a phone call to radio program Rockline and gave a rare interview while Cantrell was promoting his first solo album, Boggy Depot.

Layne Staley called the show to talk to Cantrell and stated that he had loved the album.

In October 1998, Layne Staley re-emerged to record two tracks with Alice in Chains, "Get Born Again" and "Died", which were released on the Music Bank box set in 1999.

Layne Staley made his final public appearance on October 31,1998, when he attended a Jerry Cantrell solo concert in Seattle.

Layne Staley declined Cantrell's request to sing with him on stage.

On July 19,1999, the radio program Rockline was hosting Cantrell, Inez, and Kinney for a discussion on the release of Nothing Safe: Best of the Box, when, unexpectedly, Layne Staley called in to participate.

From 1999 to 2002, Layne Staley became more reclusive and depressed, rarely leaving his Seattle condo; little is known about the details of his life during this period.

Layne Staley was rumored to spend most of his days creating art, playing video games, or nodding off on drugs.

Layne Staley grew increasingly disconnected from his friends and bandmates who repeatedly tried to get him into rehab, but Layne Staley refused.

Years later, McCallum revealed that two days before Layne 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 Layne Staley had not responded.

Layne 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 Layne Staley, McCallum called 911.

The autopsy and toxicology report on Layne Staley's body revealed that he died from a mixture of heroin and cocaine, known as a speedball.

Layne Staley was a sweet man with a keen sense of humor and a deep sense of humanity.

Layne Staley was an amazing musician, an inspiration, and a comfort to so many.

Layne Staley made great music and gifted it to the world.

Starr claimed that Layne Staley was very sick but would not call 911.

Starr expressed regret for not calling 911 to save his life, and said that Layne Staley had threatened to sever their friendship if he did.

Layne Staley's body was cremated and a private memorial service was held for him on April 28,2002, on Bainbridge Island in Washington's Puget Sound.

Layne Staley was different because his heaviness was in that voice.

Jerry Cantrell said Layne Staley gave him the self-assurance to sing.

Layne Staley ranked at No 27 on Hit Parader magazine's list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" published in the November 2006 issue, and at No 42 on Complex's magazine list of "The 50 Best Lead Singers of All Time" in 2012.

Layne Staley was an inspiration for the title of Metallica's 2008 album, Death Magnetic.

Cantrell invited Elton John to join Alice in Chains and pay tribute to Layne Staley playing the piano in "Black Gives Way to Blue", the closing song in the album.

The first concert that Layne Staley attended was Elton John's and he was blown away by it.

Since Alice in Chains reunited, Jerry Cantrell started paying tribute to Layne Staley before performing the song "Nutshell".

Layne Staley's family has disputed Rubio's work, stating they do not believe she interviewed him in 2002.

De Sola questions not only the content of the interview, which portrays Layne Staley as using his lyrics in casual conversation, it indicates that Rubio never spoke to him, citing her refusal to release the tape with the interview and the fact that not even her publisher had access to the tape.

Layne Staley was featured on the books Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music by Greg Prato, and Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge by Mark Yarm.

Layne Staley appeared on all Alice in Chains releases from We Die Young up to the song "Died", later taking part in reissues and compilations containing material from his time in the band.