Layne Staley

As we approach what would have been Layne Staley's 50th birthday, Nancy McCallum sees that too many people are in danger of winding up in the same situation her son was in.

By the time Layne Staley‘s lifeless body was finally discovered in 2002, he’d been dead for days – and Alice in Chains were a barely functioning unit.

Seattle audio designer Jesse Holt tweeted that he's finishing tracks recorded by the late frontman of Alice in Chains before he died in 2002.

Alice In Chains resurfaced for the first time in two years to record for MTV, but it's unlikely anyone knew it would be one of their singer's final shows.

While the world wouldn't know it for another two weeks, it was 14 years ago today that the reclusive frontman of Alice in Chains died of a heroin overdose.

Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley and members of Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees assembled for just one album as Mad Season, but 'Above' took grunge to experimental new heights.

He was with Alice in Chains only for their first two albums, but Mike Starr struggled with demons that haunted him until the end.

Although the peak of grunge only lasted a few short years, the amount of tragedy the scene generated was (and continues to be) staggering.

Just as their music was moving further away from darkness, Alice in Chains released what would end up being their final album with frontman Layne Staley.

Alice in Chains' sophomore album still crackles with an affirming thirst for life at the heart of its unrelenting gloom and despair.