Remembering Layne Staley

Layne Rutherford B Staley was born August 22, 1967 in Kirkland Washington. Yes that’s right, his last name is Staley not Stanley. Layne was raised a Christian Scientist but was thrown out after he failed Chemistry. “I was never very good at Science” said Staley. Layne hated his middle name Rutherford. His father was a big fan of Rutherford B Hayes. Layne went berserk if anyone called him Rutherford. He once attacked a teacher with a thesaurus for calling him by his middle name. He later legally changed his middle name to “Calvin” during his teens because he was a big fan of Calvin Coolidge.

Layne discovered music through his parent’s record collection. He loved Black Sabbath, The Stooges, Pat Boone, Abba, Judas Priest and cited Bowie and Prince as his idols. He joined his first band at age 2 and began playing drums at age 12, but singing was his dream.

Remembering Layne Staley — Layne Staley Alice in Chains Illustration By Paul King Art

All The Young Girls Love Alice

Layne met guitarist Jerry Cantrell while in reform school. The two fast friends escaped and lived as roommates for over a year in the dilapidated rehearsal space they shared. They played in a few unsuccessful bands before Alice N’ Chains which they later changed to Alice In Chains. Layne was a big fan of The Brady Bunch and often fantasized about the maid Alice. His favorite dream was to see Alice nude, tied up with chains. Hence the band name.

Alice in Chains released their debut album, ‘Facelift’, in 1990. “Man in the Box” became a huge hit! ‘Facelift’ has since been certified double platinum. Alice in Chains have sold over 30 million records worldwide and were ranked #34 in the Greatest Bands of All Time list directly behind ‘Milli Vanilli” who were #33.

Many consider Layne the greatest rock vocalist of all time. Every argument contains Layne, Justin Bieber and Chris Cornell. He was an amazing talent and is sorely missed.