by Andrew Bohardt

Created on: September 22, 2010

Like many legendary musicians, Layne Staley died far too young.

Staley, known best as the lead singer of the grunge band Alice In Chains, struggled with heroin addiction throughout his professional career, which began as a drummer with a few glam metal bands in mid-1980s.

That all changed, however, when Staley met guitarist Jerry Centrell in 1987. The duo would form AIC, refine their sound and become one of the premier acts of Seattle's burgeoning grunge movement in the early 1990s, along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.

Alice In Chains released its debut effort, "Facelift," in 1990, which featured the song Man In The Box. From the band's beginnings, Staley assumed a prominent role with his hauntingly beautiful voice and somber poetry.

But as time moved forward, and AIC began recording its follow-up, "Dirt," Staley's drug problem became more readily apparent not only in his life, but in the band's music. "Dirt," still considered AIC's best album and one of the crowning achievements of the grunge era, overtly used heroin as the topic for many of the album's songs, including perhaps Alice In Chains' biggest hit, Would?

With the success of the album, rumors began swirling about Staley's issues and were proven to be true over the course of the next three years, as the band released just one more EP prior to 1995 and did almost no touring due to Staley's worsening condition.

As 1995 approached, hopes were high that Staley was making progress toward beating his addiction. Not only did Alice In Chains release its eponymous album that year, but Mad Season, a grunge side project fronted by Staley, also put out its lone album in 1995. AIC even started a tour to support the album and recorded its now legendary MTV Unplugged concert in 1996.

Just a few dates in, however, the band was forced to cancel the rest of the tour due to Staley's declining health. Alice In Chains never toured again with Staley and only recorded a couple songs in 1999 leading up to his death in 2002. Staley, who died of a heroin and cocaine overdose, was 34 years old.

In the years since his passing, Staley has been cited as a musical influence by several prominent musicians, most notably Metallica's James Hetfield and Godsmack's Sully Erna. Alice In Chains reformed in 2005 and released "Black Gives Way To Blue" - its first studio album in 14 years - with new lead singer William Duvall in 2009. Although the band has soldiered on, Staley's imprint on the music world will not soon be forgotten.

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