Layne Staley

Layne was born on August 22, 1967 in Kirkland, WA. Layne grew up with divorced parents. Believe it or not, the first instrument Layne played was the Drums at the age of 12. He later played in different glam bands around Seatle. In these bands, he would sing while drumming. Thats soon wore off as he gave up drumming and just sang. At the time Layne was in a glam band called Alice N' Chains (notice the N') where they dressed up in womens clothes and gave out condoms.In 1987, Layne met Jerry at a party. Jerry introduced him to Mike and Sean. They decide to start a band. Alice In Chains were born.

Layne has had his battles with substance abuse twice. But that hasnt stopped him from making great music. During the time between Facelift and SAP, Layne became addicted to Heroin, it was well documented in Dirt. Layne overcame his addiction and got back on track.

During the time of JOF, Layne fell back into his addiction and AIC had to cancel thier tour withMetallica. Layne later got back on track and got together with Mike Mcready (Pearl Jam), Barret Martin (Screaming Trees), and John Baker Saunders to create the "Seatle Supergroup" MadSeason. The band released the amazing album  Above, which included "River of Deciet" and "I Dont Know Anything". Layne also drew the pictures on the album (also noted for the AIC Sun on Dirt).
Alice in Chains' Layne Staley died from a mixture of heroin and cocaine, an autopsy and toxicology report revealed Monday.

Laboratory results determined the singer died April 5, according to a spokesperson for the King County medical examiner's office, the same day fellow grunge pioneer Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994. Staley was found dead two weeks later, surrounded by intravenous drug paraphernalia in his Seattle apartment.

The death certificate reads Staley's death resulted from "an acute intoxication due to the combined effects of opiate (heroin) and cocaine." The death was classified as "accidental."

The lethal combination goes by the name "speedball" in drug circles. The same ingredients contributed to the deaths of comedian John Belushi in 1982 and actor River Phoenix in 1993