Layne Staley, (August 22, 1967 - April 5, 2002), born in Kirkland, Washington was the lead singer of the Seattle-based grunge/metal band Alice in Chains and the grunge supergroup Mad Season.

Staley played drums in several glam bands in his early teens, but wished to be a singer. He met up with Jerry Cantrell in 1987, and formed Alice in Chains with him. Originally a glam band, Alice in Chains were influenced by metal, and the grunge bands in the Seattle scene.

Like several other musicians in the Seattle grunge scene, Staley experimented with heroin. By the 1990s, Staley was battling with heroin addiction. The darker side of addiction had its influence on Staley's lyrics, and the Alice in Chains album Dirt showed this preoccupation in songs like "God Smack" and "Dirt". Cantrell also contributed lyrics, which focused mainly on the thoughts of death. "Would?" in particular addresses the death of Andrew Wood, singer of Mother Love Bone, who had died of a heroin overdose.

After the death of his fiancée in the early 1990s, Staley became more and more reclusive. Alice in Chains went into hiatus, regrouping to record a self-titled album which was released in 1995. To accompany the album, the band released a home video, The Nona Tapes, in which they poke fun at the rumours of Staley's addiction--several sources had announced his death during the hiatus--but the band lapsed again, failing to complete tours planned in support of the album.

On April 19, 2002, Staley was found dead in his home two weeks after overdosing on heroin and cocaine, coincidentally on the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's suicide.

Aaron Lewis, lead singer of alternative metal band Staind, penned a tribute to Staley titled "Layne" for Staind's 2003 album 14 Shades of Grey.

References

• Struggle with addiction infused Staley's music http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?s
  lug=laynemusic21m&date=20020421 by Charles R. Cross.