Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

According to sources, Layne had at least four different dealers who supplied him with drugs at one point or another, although not necessarily all of them at the same time. Of these four, only one—Tom Hansen, former guitarist of the Fartz—has admitted it on the record. In his memoir American Junkie, he wrote of going over to Layne’s home to bring him drugs in July 1997. Of Layne and Demri, he wrote, “She’d always wanted him to quit, and he’d always wanted her to quit, and neither of them had ever been able to.” After getting high on heroin and crack, Layne decided to take a spin on his motorcycle, with Hansen along for the ride. He drove to Bad Animals Studio, where they went into a sound booth and Layne put on Above.31

While it is not known if Layne tried to kick drugs during his later years, that didn’t stop others from trying to help him. Mark Lanegan went to Layne’s apartment to try and talk to him. Krist Novoselic would go over and leave food for him.32

Nancy Layne McCallum contacted drug counselor Bob Forrest and asked if he and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante—both recovering heroin addicts—would be willing to talk to Layne, a request they agreed to.

“Layne’s got an odd sense of humor,” McCallum told Forrest. “I told him John [Frusciante] had gangrene once. He said, ‘In his arm? That’s terrible, Mom. John’s a guitar player. He needs his hands and arms. Me? I’m just a singer. I can get by without them.’ I know he was joking, but I don’t like to hear stuff like that. Can you try to talk some sense into him?”

Forrest and Frusciante met with Layne at his condo. According to Forrest, “His mind worked but he was a million miles away.” He was playing a video game the entire time they were talking.

“Hey, Layne. What’s going on?” Forrest asked.

“Nothing. I know why you’re here,” Layne said.

“Your mom’s worried, man. You don’t look too good.” Of Layne’s appearance, Forrest wrote in his memoir, “His skin took on the look of bleached vellum, his weight dropped below ninety pounds … He had entered the end stage of the game.”

“I’m okay, though. Really,” Layne insisted as he pretended to listen. The two of them eventually left.

“I don’t think he’ll come out of this,” Forrest told Frusciante.

“It’s his life, man,” Frusciante replied.33

PART V 2001–2002

Men’s lives have meaning, not their deaths.

George R. R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

Men’s lives have meaning, not their deaths.

George R. R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

Heavy misfortunes have befallen us; but let us only cling closer to what remains, and transfer our love for those whom we have lost to those who yet live. Our circle will be small, but bound close by the ties of affection and mutual misfortune. And when time shall have softened your despair, new and dear objects of care will be born to replace those of whom we have been so cruelly deprived.

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Chapter 25

Not like this—don’t leave like this.

LAYNE STALEY

IN APRIL 2000, Argentinean journalist Adriana Rubio traveled to Seattle determined to track down Layne to write a book about him. This initial trip was unsuccessful, but she made a second trip in September of that year and made contact with Layne’s mother and sister Liz Coats.1 Layne was not happy about the book, or the fact that his mother and sister were cooperating with her. When Coats told Layne about it, he told her he wanted no part in it. Rubio returned in June 2001, when she met with Coats and Nancy Layne McCallum for several days’ worth of interviews in Seattle and Haines, Alaska, where McCallum was living at the time.2

Layne sightings were rare in his final years. According to Seattle music journalist Charles R. Cross, Layne, toward the end of his life, had lost most of his teeth, and his arms were covered with abscesses.3 He was also dangerously underweight. Although he was naturally skinny, people who knew Layne said that his normal weight ranged between 150 and 170 pounds. Those who saw him in his later years estimated his weight at 100 pounds or less.