It all started in 1987 at a party in Seattle, Washington. Layne Staley met an extremely talented guitarist Jerry Cantrell. They decided to form a band together. Jerry knew a bassist by the name of Mike Starr who agreed to play Bass for the band. Mike's Sister was dating a drummer named Sean Kinney who was introduced to the band and invited aboard. They called themselves Alice 'n Chains.
They performed their first gig on August 5th, 1987. For a short while they changed the band name to Diamond Lie but later settled for Alice In Chains. Later in 1987 they signed with Columbia Records and eventually released their first EP in 1990, titled "We Die Young". Later in 1990 they released their debut album, "Facelift". The release of the Facelift sent the song "We Die Young" to the top of the rock charts.
They first started touring after the release of Facelift. In 1991 they were nominated for favorite Heavy Metal Music Artist by the American Music Awards but unfortunately they lost. In 1992 they released Would? and Angry Chair as singles, and later the released their second album titled "Dirt". In 1993, bassist Mike Starr left the band due to drug problems and was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez. In January of 1994 they released thier album "Jar of Flies".
Later that year in October, Layne, Mike McCready, Barret Martin and John Saunderss performed as "The Gacy Bunch" at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle. After a few shows "The Gacy Bunch" renamed to "Mad Season" and recorded an album titled "Above" which was released in March of 1995.
Come April of 1995 Alice In Chains had begun work on their new, self-titled album which was originally named Tripod and was later released that year. In April of 1996, they recorded Unplugged for MTV in front of 400 invited guests and was later released as an album that same year. In 1998 the guitarist Jerry Cantrell released his solo album "Bogey Depot" on which both Sean Kinney and Mike Inez play. in 1999 a new Alice In Chains single was released named "Get Born Again" and later that year a 4 CD Music Bank Box Set containing rare demos and new versions of songs was released. In 2000 a Live album was released which recieved little attention.
Tragically, on April 19th, 2002 the lead singer Layne Staley was found dead in his Seattle Apartment destroying any chance of a reunion or a new album. Though he is gone his music and legacy will never be forgotten.