Obituary: Layne Staley

By PETER GRIFFIN

Singer-songwriter. Died aged 34.

The deep melancholy of Layne Staley, frontman of Seattle grunge band Alice in Chains, would forever be intertwined with an ultimately fatal love affair with heroin.

Staley, who was found dead in his Seattle apartment, had long struggled with drugs.

From their 1990 debut, Alice had a sound all of their own, a mix of menacing guitar riffs and the dark, anguished lyrics of Staley. His aggression, creativity and humour powered the band as they became an integral part of the grunge scene.

Critics raved over their second slice of angry rock, Dirt, and so did newfound fans.

But the passage of years found Alice stuffed into the post-Nirvana box, one of the bands riding on the wave made by Kurt Cobain and company.

Even as audiences grew and radio airplay increased, Alice were beginning to come apart.

Staley's battle with drugs continued through the mid-90s. Alice went on to put out two successful EPs and an eponymous full-length album - more melodic and uplifting than their past efforts, yet still dealing with themes of loneliness, despair, drugs and death.

In a 1996 MTV unplugged session, a fragile-looking Staley, bearded and disguising his eyes with wraparound sunglasses, took the stage to deliver a sombre but perfect performance.

By the late-90s Staley had slipped from view, Alice on hold as the frontman struggled to rehabilitate.

It was good to hear him again in 1999 on a cover of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall Part II, but a return to the studio with Alice failed to lead anywhere. Instead, fans held on to an impressive range of songs that gave insight into a tortured soul.

For Staley, life in the end imitated art, taking one of the best musicians of the past 10 years and ending a decade of despair for a troubled talent.