1989

"I'm Layne Staley and I sing like a lark...."

1996

"Nobody ever asks Meatloaf, "what do you eat? Why do you eat so much? Shouldn't you lose some weight?" No, he shouldn't. He's F*cking Meat Loaf. He writes songs, and he has a great time, and none of your f*ckin' buisness. Maybe he eats meatloaf every f*cking night, you know?"

1996

"I found out thruogh the internet that I have AIDS. I learned that I was dead. Where else would I find out these things? I don't see a docter regularly. I was in San Francisco at Lollapalooza, and this girl walked up to me and stopped like she'd seen a ghost. And said,"Your're not dead.", and I said "No, you're right, wow."

At the Kiss concert, July '96

"Well, this is kind of like our reunion tour, too. Why isn't anybody dressed like me?"

1996 unplugged

"I wish I could just hug you all, but I'm not gonna"

1996

"People have a right to ask questions and dig deep when you're hurting and things around you, but when I haven't talked to anybody in years, and every article I see is dope this, junkie that, whiskey this - that ain't my title...My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title."

1996

"There's no huge, deep message in any of the songs. It was just what was going on in my head right then. We had good times, and we had bad times. We recorded a few months of being human."

1995

"When somebody starts asking me if I'm an addict or how messed up I am or just some stupid stuff like that, it's like 'man do you have a brain at all?' Aside from a brain do you have any feelings at all? What if I started asking you these questions? This is really personal stuff!"

1995"The Nona Tapes"

"Best part of being a paperboy was getting attacked by 7 collies, while the owner went,'Come here! Hey kid, get over here!'"

1995 "The Nona Tapes"

"The songs are about things that we were thinking...when we wrote'em down...and WHEN you listen to 'em...whatever you think it's about...THAT'S what it's about!"

1995 "The Nona Tapes"

"I'm dumbfounded by me all the time. WOW, what a thrill...and a joy."

1995

"I made a stupid decision and now I'm paying for it. My bed isn't made, I'm tired, I haven't slept well for two weeks. I haven't been laid in a month. I don't have a girlfriend. And i have a warrent for my arrest. Being me is no different than being most anyone else, I guess."

1995

"I've always looked for the perfect life to step into. I've done all the work, taken all the paths to get where I wanted. But no matter where I go, I still come home to me. At home I'm just Layne, a guy who has interests that extend far beyond music. Music is the career I'm lucky enough to get paid for, but I have other desires and passions."

1994

"Our perception of songs that we've written...the meaning changes from day to day...to whatever stage we're at in our life and careers."

1994

"We were on tour and the songs on Sap were songs we had written...and Sean, during the process of working on these songs, had a dream that we had recorded these songs. And since they were a little bit milder than the rest of our material, in his dream the record was called "Sap" because it was sappy."

1991

"What do you mean, I'm a wild front man! I'm jumping all over, I do the dance moves."

1991

1991

"It's just writing about things, feelings, not that we're dark or depressed..just as much as anyone else is."

1991

"We write about ourselves because we know about ourselves."

1991

"We Die Young is about gang violence. That was something that was happening in Seattle, something that kinda opened our eyes. It just seemed like things were getting out of hand. Incidents where kids were getting shot, and getting thier tennis shoes ripped off their dead bodies. It just seemed like these kids are dying at younger and younger ages and getting involved in gang activity."

1991

"Everyone in the band listens to different things. We're influenced by different bands...so all that comes together."