Struggle with addiction infused Staley's music

Though news of Layne Staley's death doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who knew the singer for Alice In Chains and his history with drugs, his death nonetheless represents a significant loss to the Northwest music scene.

Though Staley's struggles had essentially derailed Alice In Chains by 1995, the current crop of chart-topping rock bands — from Creed to Staind — owe much to the dark sound Alice pioneered in the early '90s with such hits as "Man in the Box" and "Rooster."

Staley's voice was one of the most distinctive in rock 'n' roll, and any suggestion of his re-emergence in the past few years was enough to excite rock radio and the band's large fan base.

Most of the recent reports about Staley were instead tales of his continuing spiral of drug abuse. There were so many false reports of his premature death during the late '90s that local music magazine The Rocket kept a standing obit of Staley ready for any deadline. When Internet rumors suggested Staley had lost an arm to gangrene, his management was eventually forced to deny the story. And when Rolling Stone ran a cover story on Staley in 1996 with the headline, "The Needle and the Damage Done," it seemed like a fitting, if premature, epitaph for the singer.

What most didn't know was that Staley had gone through rehab on numerous occasions and that those close to him had been deeply concerned for some time. He was unsuccessful at staying sober for long, and friends say the death of his fiancée in the early '90s, also from drug abuse, sent Staley into a spiral from which he did not recover.

When Kurt Cobain died in April 1994, Staley had just returned from a long stint at the Hazelton Clinic in Minnesota and was newly sober, but he soon fell back into his addiction.

Drugs had been a frequent topic in Staley's songs. He told a fanzine in 1995, "Drugs will have a huge effect on my work for the rest of my life, whether I'm using or not." The new band Godsmack named itself after one of Alice In Chains' songs about heroin. Many of Alice's biggest songs, such as "Down in a Hole" and "Junkhead," had themes of addiction.

The group began in 1987 when Kirkland-born Staley paired up with guitarist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney. The band at first was called Diamond Lie but switched to Alice In Chains as it more aggressively mixed its original glam sound with heavy-metal guitar riffs.

Among the many talented Northwest bands of the late '80s, Alice In Chains stood out for its populist leanings and working-class roots. Though it was often categorized as a metal band, its sound was closer to true "grunge" than even Nirvana or Pearl Jam.

The band signed to Columbia Records in 1989, and its debut album "Facelift" quickly went to the top of the charts and earned it a national audience.

The group's 1994 extended-play album, "Jar of Flies," became the first EP ever to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. That year marked the height of the band's success — and that of the Seattle music scene in general — but Staley's problems seemed to escalate along with the group's fame. Alice In Chains was forced to cancel several high-profile tours that year, and the band eventually stopped playing live.

Guitarist Cantrell eventually began a solo career, though as recently as last month he was suggesting that an Alice In Chains reunion wasn't out of the question. In 1995, Staley did get sober long enough to record with a new band, Mad Season, formed with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees. But despite a hit record, Mad Season never played more than a handful of dates and Staley went back into retirement. Mad Season's bassist, John Baker Saunders, died of a heroin overdose in 1999.

Though Alice In Chains was never a favorite with critics, the band's reputation has grown over the years as younger bands have cited it as an influence. Rock radio continues to keep Alice In Chains on playlists, and the group's greatest-hits collections have been best sellers.

Promoters had offered the band millions to reunite.

Friends remembered Staley as a warm personality with a sense of humor. He joked with reporters about the frequent false reports of his death, and he remained upbeat even as his troubles increased.

In a 1998 interview with the radio show "Rockline," he laughed when he was compared to Greta Garbo for his reclusiveness. When asked what he was up to he replied, "A bunch of stuff, huge things. You'll hear about it real soon.''

It was one of the last interviews Staley did.

Charles R. Cross is the author of "Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain," and is former editor of The Rocket entertainment magazine.