Say it ain't so - heard this on the radio.

April 20, 2002 12:28 AM

Say it ain't so - heard this on the radio. I heard a brief thing on the radio that said a body found in Seattle's University District might be Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley. Down in a hole - forever?
posted by Lynsey (26 comments total)

That totally puts me in my Angry Chair. Was it raining? I haven't listened to AIC in a long time, but i've got many fond memories. *sigh
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:53 AM on April 20, 2002

Yahoo (AP): "Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Sue Stangl told The Associated Press she could not confirm the identity of the deceased."
posted by riffola at 1:38 AM on April 20, 2002

Here's semi-confirmation from the Seattle Times.
posted by shinybeast at 1:55 AM on April 20, 2002

Here's semi-confusion from KING 5 News. The article says he died Friday afternoon, then goes on to say that the body had apparently been dead several days and has not been confirmed as Staley's.
posted by gutenberg at 2:32 AM on April 20, 2002

(quietly whispers)
"Crap."
posted by Quixoticlife at 6:00 AM on April 20, 2002

Make that double crap. Last night I blogged about Michael Bloomfield, who died under similar circumstances, which is kind of eerie.
Truse, Staley to a large degree brought this on himself, and it was only a matter of time until this happened, but that dosent mean I'll miss the music any less.

Goodbye, Layne and thanks for the music.
posted by jonmc at 7:10 AM on April 20, 2002

I thought this guy was dead already.
This really does piss me off, though. Now, for a week, I'll have to listen to the local stations play "Rooster" 50 times a day.
posted by bradth27 at 7:35 AM on April 20, 2002

SHIT.
posted by clavdivs at 7:55 AM on April 20, 2002

The story from an Australian music magazine.
posted by drezdn at 7:56 AM on April 20, 2002

It's to be expected, really. I mean, really, how many singers from early 90's grunge bands are still alive? However, I am sad, because I sure did love Alice In Chains.
posted by animoller at 9:36 AM on April 20, 2002

I remember Poe (who dated the bassist) telling me in 1995: "He'll be gone any day now", which always stuck with me. I thought maybe she'd be wrong, and he'd actually live into a reasonably old age.
posted by jragon at 10:08 AM on April 20, 2002

That damn Udistrict. I had an exboyfriend die of a heroin overdose just a few blocks away from where Staley was supposedly found.
posted by arielmeadow at 11:13 AM on April 20, 2002

What's so depressing is that no matter who it was (though it seems like him, surely), he died very alone. It had been days (or longer?) since he was found? He needed to be "scientifically identified?" It's very sad how isolated addicts become.

Friends that knew him expected it years ago. It's still very depressing.
posted by readymade at 11:38 AM on April 20, 2002

to sorta-quote denis leary ...

'layne staley is dead ... and we can't get the members of creed to try heroin.'

damn. my formative years were 90-95. thats when music became a big part of my life and, of course, AIC, soundgarden, the melvins, pearl jam, nirvana ... these were the bands that inspired it all.

someone find ed and buzz and make sure their fucking bands don't break up or the don't somehow destroy themselves.

RIP layne -- thanks for the tunes and memories.
posted by aenemated at 1:38 PM on April 20, 2002

MTV thinks he's dead...
posted by Spinderella56 at 1:57 PM on April 20, 2002

Totally expected. Totally sad.
posted by Dirjy at 2:24 PM on April 20, 2002

someone find ed and buzz and make sure their fucking bands don't break up or the don't somehow destroy themselves.

Now. I don't understand that at all. How will an astronaut and a talking horse be able to do anything?
posted by bradth27 at 3:16 PM on April 20, 2002

to quote a recent issue of maxim magazine on the state of "modern rock" music:
The last decade in rock music was an unprecedented era of wonder and excitement...if you were a 12-year-old-girl. But if you're old enough to remember a time when popular musicians played instruments and never had names like "Lance" or "Howie," odds are you spent the previous 10 years curled up in a fetal position while your headphones blared who's next on permanent repeat. Let's face it--the whole genre's been headed straight to hell since the day kurt cobain filled his skull with buckshot, and lately watching MTV has made us wonder if he had the right idea.
i couldnt put it better if i had tried.
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 6:32 PM on April 20, 2002

rest in peace layne. you'll be sorely missed.
posted by jerseygirl at 6:59 PM on April 20, 2002

hm. another relavent quote. this time to the most likely cause of death of staley.
maynard james keenan of tool in "third eye": see i think drugs have done some good things for us i really do. and if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us do me a favor, go home tonight take all your albums all your tapes and all your cds and burn 'em. cause you know what the musicians who've made that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the year... rrrreeeeeeeeaaaaallllllll fuckin' high on drugs.
it's been sampled from somewhere. anybody know where?
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 7:06 PM on April 20, 2002

someone find ed and buzz and make sure their fucking bands don't break up or the don't somehow destroy themselves.

according to tenclub.net, the fanclub website, pearl jam is/has been working on the final record on their current contract with Epic. last i heard, it will be out next year with the summer tour to follow. everyone *seems* healthy and okay.
posted by jerseygirl at 7:09 PM on April 20, 2002

The scene needs.
The scene breeds.
There's a quota to fill.
Burn fast.
Can't last.
New
one
say,
"But I will."

We almost gotta have 'em, don't we? The scarred, wave-tossed misfits, yelling to us from beyond the safety of our own cowardice. We hate when they go. We hate when they suffer so. But we almost gotta have 'em, don't we?
posted by Opus Dark at 7:26 PM on April 20, 2002

sixtwenty3dc- Bill Hicks, learn to google, man.
posted by pekar wood at 7:49 PM on April 20, 2002

i bet it was a ham sandwich.
posted by anildash at 7:58 PM on April 20, 2002

...with a nice opiate-mustard spread!
posted by Hackworth at 8:18 PM on April 20, 2002

"How will an astronaut and a talking horse be able to do anything?"
like really d00d. sub-orbital overdose detection stations manned by talking horses are so 1995.
posted by quonsar at 8:51 AM on April 21, 2002