Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains, which he and guitarist Jerry Cantrell formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987.
Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s. The band became known for his distinct vocal style, as well as the harmonized vocals between him and Cantrell.Staley was also a member of the supergroups Mad Season and Class of ’99. He struggled throughout his adult life with severe drug addiction, culminating with his death in April 2002.
On April 19, 2002, Staley’s accountants contacted Staley’s mother Nancy McCallum and informed her that no money had been withdrawn from the singer’s bank account in one week. McCallum then placed a call with 911 to say “she hadn’t heard from… [Staley] in about two weeks.” The police went with McCallum and her husband to Staley’s home, “When police kicked in the door to Layne Staley’s University District apartment on April 19, there, on a couch, lit by a flickering TV, next to several spray-paint cans on the floor, not far from a small stash of cocaine, near two crack pipes on the coffee table, reposed the remains of the rock musician.” The article also stated that the 6’1″ Staley weighed just 86 pounds when his body was discovered, mostly due to[citation needed] decomposition as his body was discovered two weeks after his death. The autopsy report later concluded that Staley had died after injecting a mixture of heroin and cocaine known as a “speedball”.[Wiki]