Remembering Layne Staley, 15 years later
Fifteen years ago this week, Layne Staley died at the age of 34 in his Seattle condo, though he wouldn’t be discovered until April 19, 2002.
The Alice in Chains frontman was the latest in a series of drug casualties from the city’s vibrant rock music scene that had captured the world’s attention just over a decade prior. Yet, in many ways, his ending was the most tragic of all, mainly because family, friends and fans had to witness his deterioration over a period of years until he ultimately decided to live in seclusion to the point where his body wasn’t discovered for two weeks.
The medical examiner estimated the actual date of death of the singer to be April 5, an eerie coincidence given it was the same day Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain had taken his own life eight years earlier. Unlike notables Cobain, who shockingly died by suicide with a shotgun blast to the head following battles with heroin addiction and depression, and Andrew Wood, who passed after a heroin overdose before Mother Love Bone’s music and popularity had the chance to spread beyond the confines of the Pacific Northwest, Staley’s death was expected for years. It turned into a morbid waiting game, one that became more and more painful to view as time passed.
When no one had heard from Staley, and his bank accounts hadn’t been touched for an alarming amount of time, Alice in Chains’ manager phoned Staley’s mother and stepfather, who went to his University District condo on the morning of April 19 and called 911 when there was no answer. Two officers arrived at the location and kicked down the door to the apartment.
The scene inside wasn’t a pleasant one. Staley’s rigamortis laden corpse was propped up on the couch in a sitting position, and he was holding a loaded syringe in his hand. Further drug paraphernalia was scattered around and under the body, along with substances including cocaine and crack pipes — all illuminated by a television that was still on. He had morphine, codeine and cocaine in his system. Most troublingly, Staley weighed a scant 86 pounds.
Due to Staley’s self-imposed isolation, there are few reliable details regarding his remaining days, though for years rumors circulated that long estranged Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr may have been the last to see him. He confirmed as much in 2010 while a cast member of the third season of ‘Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.’ When attempting to make amends with Staley’s mother on camera, Starr recounted spending his April 4 birthday shooting up heroin with Staley at the latter’s apartment. The two then got into an argument, and the bass player left the residence.
At the time of Staley’s death, Alice in Chains already long had one foot in the grave. The last time they played together live was a smattering of shows in 1996 including an MTV Unplugged performance and four dates opening for a reunited Kiss. The final time in the studio with Staley would be in the summer of 1998. The release of the expansive ‘Music Bank’ box set was on the horizon, and a decision was made to try and record as a unit two new songs.
Despite some intense friction between Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell, “Get Born Again” and “Died” were laid down, but not without an added complication of the singer’s now pronounced lisp, stemming from the loss of many teeth. There was a marked attention given to avoiding words in the lyrics that would further bring out the speech impediment.
The final music Layne worked that has been released to date was on was a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2).” Under the one-time moniker Class of ’99, which also featured Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello on guitar and members of Jane’s Addiction, the track was featured on the soundtrack to the forgettable 1998 film ‘The Faculty.’
Staley had talked in early 2001 with friends about being set to audition for the open singer slot in Rage Against the Machine, though Morello contests those claims, and no evidence exists there was a realistic chance of it ever being under consideration. The gig ended up going to Chris Cornell and the project turned into the band Audioslave.
While it wasn’t a surprise, Staley’s death signaled the end of the most distinctive voice to come out of the early ‘90s Seattle music scene. His singing style influenced numerous outfits after AIC broke big, some blatantly ripped him off to mediocre results, cementing the fact that he was an inimitable talent.