By the time Layne Staley passed away, the Alice in Chains singer was physically and
emotionally crippled by his drug addiction, so isolated that no publicly available pictures
exist from this period. This is what the final 12 months of his life were like.
According to Guitar World, in 1997, Layne Staley purchased an apartment in Seattle's
bustling University District. This would be the singer's home for the next five years,
leading up to his death. Yet, for the last year of his life, almost no one visited Staley
in this apartment, and he rarely left. For the most part, Layne lived an incredibly private
and insular life in the year leading up to his death, to the point where the few times
people did see him, it was a notable event that they remembered vividly.
According to a Facebook memorial post by early collaborator Tim Branom that was reprinted
in Alternative Nation,
"In the end, almost no one could contact Layne. He wouldn't answer the door or take calls.
He lived in a condo right smack in front of everyone, in the University District. He weighed
80-some pounds and his health was deteriorating. There were reports that he would go to Toys
R Us to buy games and return home, but always by himself."
It was well-known that Layne Staley was a lover of video games and would often disappear
to play games during Alice in Chains' recording sessions. In Greg Prato's book Grunge Is Dead,
his mother Nancy described him as a "video game freak," while Tad Doyle of the seminal
Seattle band Tad describes how Alice in Chains would have his band on their tour bus, quote,
"playing video games and listening to music."
However, like many of the things that seemed to make him happy, video games became an escape
for Staley, a way to focus his mind on something that didn't wear too hard on his emotions.
In a Rolling Stone profile of the band, the writer described Layne disappearing to play
games while his bandmates were playing a wild bumper car sport called Whirlyball.
There's a trope that rock stars overindulging in bad behavior and harmful drugs "think they'll
live forever." Not Layne Staley, though. By the end of his life, he was not only acutely
aware that his drug use had screwed up his whole world, but that he wouldn't be around
much longer.
In his last interview, months before his death with Argentinian journalist Adriana Rubio,
Staley admitted that he knew he was on his way out. He was quoted in the interview, later
reprinted by MTV:
"I know I'm dying. I'm not doing well. Don't try to talk about this to my sister Liz. She
will know it sooner or later...I know I'm near death. I did crack and heroin for years.
I never wanted to end my life this way. I know I have no chance. It's too late."
Perhaps the most painful thing about this is that Layne's sense of hopelessness drove
him to isolate even further and push away even those who loved him. He said in the interview:
"I know I did my best or what I thought would be right. I changed my number. I don't wanna
see people anymore and it's nobody's business but mine."
Many outsiders looking in at the grunge scene claimed that the movement glamorized drug
use, promoting the concept that art and addiction were intertwined via their lyrics and the
growing concept of "heroin chic" that was popular in '90s fashion. But Layne Staley's
final interview reveals that he was no longer using heroin for pleasure, but simply because
he was so addicted to it that he couldn't possibly stop. He said in an interview published
by Blabbermouth:
"This f*cking drug use is like the insulin a diabetic needs to survive. I'm not using
drugs to get high like many people think."
Because of this, Staley was disgusted by heroin's effect on his life, and that he didn't want
Alice in Chains' fans to think it was cool, saying:
"I never wanted [the public's] thumbs' up about this f---ing drug use...My liver is
not functioning and I'm throwing up all the time and s---ting my pants. The pain is more
than you can handle. It's the worst pain in the world. Dope sick hurts the entire body."
Perhaps closest to Layne Staley in the 12 months before his death was his mother, Nancy
McCallum, who had always been there for her son and helped him seek out treatment for
his addiction. Nancy was even working in a treatment center the day Staley died, and
it was her intervention that led the police to find the singer's body.
According to an interview she did with The Seattle Times, Nancy was working the front
desk of a rehab clinic on the day that Layne passed away. She was even planning to meet
with one of the supervisors there to map out a new line of treatment for her son. Then,
she received a call from his accountant saying that Staley had taken out a large sum of money
weeks ago and that no one had heard from him since. Nancy rushed to his apartment, and
when Staley didn't answer, she contacted the police.
In many ways, Nancy is still haunted by her son's addiction, addicts and fans send her
letters all the time, but she also sees Layne's lyrics on the subject as helpful and prophetic.
She said,
"That's what his music was about. The life of an addict...He chose to write about it
and sing about it and perform about it. It was a warning."
"We write about ourself, because we know about ourselves."
As Layne Staley's health deteriorated, he became less interested in being social or
recording with his band. That said, the people who saw him deep into his addiction claimed
that while Staley looked terrible physically, he was often the same smiling, lighthearted
guy they remember.
According to an interview with Staley's stepfather Jim Elmer in David De Sola's book Alice in
Chains: The Untold Story, Layne seemed to be in high spirits when around others, even
toward the end of his life:
"He was smiling, he was talkative, so there's a good sign that either he was doing better
or he was trying to do better, that there's a more hopeful thing as compared to 'We're
going to lose him in two days' or something like that."
Jeff Gilbert, an editor at Seattle music magazine The Rocket, said that when Layne approached
him on the street toward the end of his life, he looked bad physically but seemed aware
emotionally.
"He looked like an eighty-year-old version of himself, and it was frightening...He still
managed to smile. Every so often, you'd see that little glimmer."
As Layne Staley became more and more engulfed by his addiction to heroin, many of those
around him began to see him as a withdrawn and tragic figure, but his family has warm
and sweet memories from the last time they saw him alive.
In a profile on Staley from The Seattle Times, mother Nancy said that her final memory of
her son was him holding his nephew while visiting his family in February 2002. She said:
"I saw Layne on Thanksgiving of '01 and again just around Valentine's Day when he came to
see his sister's new baby. The last time I saw Layne, and the last picture we have of
him, is holding baby Oscar."
Sadly for fans, this last image has never been shared with the public. However, Nancy
makes a specific point of mentioning that although her son had become withdrawn, he
wasn’t abandoned by those who loved him.
"He was never far from the love of his family and friends, who filled his answering machine
and mailbox with messages and letters...Just because he was isolated doesn't mean we didn't
have sweet moments with him."
Layne Staley was actually planning to record guest vocals on a song with alternative metallers
Taproot for their 2002 album Welcome. The band's unique sound, staccato rhythms, throbbing
groove riffs, and alternating guttural and harmonized clean vocals, made the album pretty
perfect for a Layne Staley guest spot, and according to Alice in Chains: The Untold Story,
Staley was enthusiastic about recording the vocals, though he asked that producer Toby
Wright come alone because he, quote, "wasn't looking or feeling great, and he didn't want
to be seen."
Sadly, Staley's final vocal performance never got recorded, though he was interested in
the project right up until his death. According to a statement by former Taproot drummer Jarrod
Montague, Layne's mother told the band that when he died, he had Taproot's demo of their
track in his CD player.
In 1988, Layne Staley met Demri Parrott, a model who would eventually become a grunge
icon. Demri had a look that seemed to define the musical era, beautiful in a small-town
way with her bright eyes, round cheeks, and curly hair. According to Alice in Chains:
The Untold Story, it was love at first sight. The two soon became engaged but eventually
broke up around 1994. By then, Demri had also become addicted to heroin. On October 29,
1996, she passed away due to inflammation of the heart caused by a previous overdose.
When Alice in Chains' first bassist Mike Starr was hanging out with Staley the day before
his death, the last time, as far as Staley's friends and family could tell, that anyone
saw the singer alive, Layne revealed that he'd seen Demri recently in his apartment.
The two were watching the show Crossing Over With John Edward, in which a medium claimed
to speak to audience members' dead relatives, when Staley said,
"Demri was here last night. I don't give a f*ck if you f*cking believe me or not, dude.
I'm telling you: Demri was here last night."
According to The Untold Story, Demri's mother Kathleen Austin has heard Mike Starr's story
and believes her daughter visited Staley, quote, "to be there with Layne as he's doing
his transition."
Original Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr spent the day before Layne Staley's death,
Starr's birthday, in fact, hanging out with the singer at his University District apartment.
The interaction was mixed: According to David de Sola's book, Layne was in a sour mood and
got into an argument with Mike over his use of benzodiazepine.
Perhaps the most tragic part of this was that the bassist, worried by Staley's appearance,
tried to call 911 for his friend, but the singer declined. Speaking during a February
2010 episode of Loveline, Mike said,
"I was with him all that day on my birthday trying to keep him alive. I even asked him
if I could call 911, you know, and he said that if I did, he'd never talk to me again.
Of course I didn't know he was going to die, or I would've called 911 anyways. I'd much
rather have him alive and not talking to me than to have lost such a great human being...a
great friend. And just a great person. What a great person he was."
Layne Staley's official date of death was declared April 5, 2002. However, his body
wasn't discovered until April 19, two weeks after the singer had passed away from an overdose
of cocaine and heroin.
According to Seattle Weekly, police were forced to break down Staley's door after his mother
called them to his University District apartment. The scene they found there was a harrowing
one: brown heroin stains leading from the bathroom to the living room, stashes of cocaine
and crack pipes around the house, the TV on and flickering. Staley's body was sitting
upright on his couch. His 6'1" body weighed only 86 pounds, and in one of his hands was
a loaded syringe.
A toxicology report found that he had morphine, codeine, and cocaine in his bloodstream. His
death was ruled accidental.
Layne Staley was the ultimate example of a rock 'n' roll tragedy, a star whose incredible
talent and creativity was cut short by an addiction that eventually grew out of his
control. But somehow, out of Layne's story grew a bloom of hope for artists in the same
position.
According to The Seattle Times, shortly after Staley's death, his mother Nancy began receiving
donations and letters from fans all around the world struggling with addiction. She was
quick to note,
"I don't have any magic answers. I just try to console people."
She started the Layne Staley Memorial Fund, a way to help those dealing with addiction
to pay for treatment services. According to Therapeutic Health Services, which runs the
organization, Nancy sees the fund as a means of,
"...partnering with Layne on the next step in his work. He was very honest with people
about the effects of drug use, urging them not to follow in his footsteps. Those were
the messages in his songs, endearing him to his fans."
"I think releasing the dark side, releasing depression, frustration, is what we’re all
about."
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration's 24/7 National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. That's 1-800-662-4357.