Layne Staley's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Saturday Night Special Layne Staley

Main Movie Roles

BIOGRAPHY:

Layne was born August 22, 1967 in Kirkland, WA. When Layne was seven, his parents divorced. He started playing drums around the age of 12.

Layne always wanted to sing when he played his drums, so his groupies told him that he should sing instead. So, Layne traded in his drum set for a microphone and delay.

While at a party in Seattle in 1987, he met Jerry Cantrell who suggested the two start a band. Jerry then introduced Layne to Mike Starr, who introduced him to Sean Kinney (II). Layne was known to be dark and mysterious, but he actually had a thirst for knowledge and was a chatterbox. He was also an artist. Layne did the artwork both for Mad Season's album and in sleeve of Alice in Chains' "Dirt" album. His best known artwork is probably the Alice In Chains Sun Logo.

Layne appeared on celebrity _"Jeopardy!" (1984)_ and crushed opponents Tony Danza and Ruth Westheimer. He gave show host Alex Trebek the finger during a dispute over the Dead Sea scrolls.


TRIVIA:

• Is believed to have died on April 14, 2002. His body was discovered at his home by Seattle police on April 20, 2002 after several days of severe decomposition. Due to this, medical tests were performed to identify him.
• (May 7, 2002) The autopsy report from the King County Medical Examiner's Office confirms that Staley died after injecting a "speedball", a mixture of heroin and cocaine. He had been dead for about two weeks when his body was discovered on April 19, and was surrounded by drug paraphernalia. His body was so decomposed when found that it was only identified as that of Layne Staley after a check of the dental records.
• In high school, Layne sang in a glam-rock band called "Alice N Chains." Upon the formation of the rejuvented Alice in 1987, the group re-spelled its name "Alice in Chains" and adopted a heavier, metal-influenced sound.
• Was born on the same day as actor 'Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje' (qv) (known for movies like _Congo (1995)_ (qv) and _The Mummy Returns (2001)_ (qv)).
• Lead vocalist for the alternative rock band Alice in Chains.
• In high school, sang in a glam-rock band called Alice N Chains. Upon the formation of the rejuivanted Alice in 1987, the group re-spelled their name and adopted a more Black Sabbath-influenced sound.
• Wrote about his struggles with heroin addiction in such songs as "Angry Chair", "Junkhead", and "God Smack."
• His long-time girlfriend (and former fiance) Demri Parrott died of untreated bacterial infection of the heart valves in October 1996.