Layne Staley

Also known as Layne Thomas Staley, Layne Rutherford Staley, Llayne Staley

American rock musician (1967–2002)

Film & TV

Bellevue, Washington, USA

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 bandmate Jerry Cantrell. Prior to his success with…

Known for

Class Action Park — Self (archive footage)2020
MoPOP Founders Award 2020 Honoring Alice in Chains — Self (archive footage)2020
VH1 News Special: Grunge — Self (archive footage)2001
Alice in Chains - Music Bank: The Videos — Himself1999
Alice in Chains: MTV Unplugged — Vocals1996
Mad Season: Live At The Moore — Self1995
The Nona Tapes — Self1995
Alice in Chains: Hollywood Rock Festival 1993 — Vocals1993
Alice in Chains: [1993] Live at Rotterdam1993
Singles — Himself - Alice In Chains (uncredited)1992

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Country: United States
Active from: 1967
Active to: 2002

Member of

Alice in Chains1987–2002
Alice in Chains, The Quintessentialsince 1990
Mad Season1994–1997
Mad Season1994–1997
Sleze
Diamond Lie
Alice Mudgarden
Class of ’99
Alice n’ Chains

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 907
Total plays: 7,069

Key facts

Also known as: Layne Elmer
Born: Layne Rutherford Staley , ( 1967-08-22 ) August 22, 1967, Bellevue, Washington , U.S.
Died: April 5, 2002 (2002-04-05) (aged 34), Seattle , Washington, U.S.
Genres: Grunge alternative metal alternative rock hard rock glam metal (early)
Occupations: Musician singer songwriter
Instruments: Vocals guitar
Years active: 1984–1998
Formerly of: Alice in Chains Mad Season Class of '99 Alice N' Chains Sleze
Website: layne-staley .com

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Thomas
Gender: male
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Bellevue
Place of death: Seattle
Occupation: guitarist
Languages spoken: English language
Native language: English language
Genre: alternative rock
Instrument: guitar
Image: Staley05 (cropped).jpg

Show 9 more facts

Commons category: Layne Staley
date of birth: 1967-00-00
date of death: 2002-00-00
cause of death: drug overdose
manner of death: accidental death
start of work period: 1984-00-00
birth name: Layne Rutherford
name in native language: Layne Thomas Staley
end of work period: 1999-00-00

Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~35 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Layne Thomas Staley (born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American singer-songwriter. He 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 bandmate Jerry Cantrell. Before his success with Alice in Chains, Staley was also a member of the glam metal bands Sleze and Alice N' Chains . He was also a part of 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.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Layne Staley” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.