Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

According to the most recent filing available as of this writing and signed by attorneys for both McCallum and the band, “The parties are engaging in the voluntary exchange of information. They believe such an exchange is a more efficient manner of conducting discovery at this stage than the preparation and exchange of the Disclosures.”38

*   *   *

The year 2015 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of the We Die Young EP and Facelift, which makes the band eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Besides age, criteria for induction include “influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.” The ultimate decision on whether to induct an artist or not is up to an international voting body of more than six hundred artists, historians, and members of the music industry. Musicians with the highest number of votes or who get more than 50 percent of the votes are inducted, typically between five and seven a year.39

One factor that could work in Alice in Chains’s favor is the fact that many of their grunge and alternative rock peers have become eligible for induction in the past few years. On the other hand, their luck with the Hall of Fame could go in lockstep with their luck at the Grammys—they have yet to win a single award despite multiple nominations over the course of more than two decades. The Hall of Fame has eluded musicians like Deep Purple, The Cure, Willie Nelson, and Soundgarden, who have been eligible for years but have yet to be inducted as of this writing.40

Asked about the possibility of Alice in Chains being inducted, Jerry responded during an interview with Radio.com, “We don’t think about it a whole lot. We’re not in this to win awards, or be part of the thing. I have to say that’s the attitude I went [to Heart’s 2013 induction into the Hall of Fame] with.” He added, “I also have to say, in fairness, that my opinion was a little bit changed by being a fly on the wall and being kind of a guest, a guest alongside Heart, seeing how much it meant for them, and how well they did it. It was a cool show and it was with a lot of respect … It’s always nice to be recognized for your work, let’s put it that way.”41

Of the band’s legacy, Jerry said during an interview with The Skinny, “One of the things I’m most proud of—at risk of sounding self-important—is that I think this has been an important band. We’re a link in the chain. It’s mattered to us and it’s mattered to a lot of other people, too.

“Hopefully we’re making good music and we’re a pretty good band. I think we are. I guess that’s really what it comes down to. I mean, if we were shit I don’t think we would have made it this far. We must be doin’ something right. We are old school, just by the fact of being old! We’re all creepin’ up on fifty here in a few years. We’ve lived a pretty interesting life—wouldn’t change a thing, even the bad stuff. We’re continuing to do what we committed ourselves to. I have this saying: the thing that you did as a kid to not have a job has now become your life’s work. That’s pretty cool.”42

Acknowledgments

There were two basic guiding principles I had while I was researching and writing this book. The first: the idea that Alice in Chains didn’t happen in a vacuum by themselves. There were people there every step of the way who helped them become the band that they are today. The same can be said of this book—while the reporting and writing are mine, I certainly would not have been able to get to this point on my own.

The second guiding principle: no one person had all the pieces of the puzzle to tell this story. Filmmaker James Cameron described history as “a kind of consensus hallucination.” Human memory is a curious thing when revisiting the past, especially with the passage of time, the ending of relationships, or the use of mind-altering substances. I sought out as many different sources as possible to obtain independent verification of events that, in some cases, happened decades ago. This was especially important in reporting about the people who are deceased and cannot speak for themselves. It is also necessary to accept that there are some things that may never be known, because many of the people in the story have passed away.

One of my explicit goals was to maximize the accuracy not only of the facts but also of the timing and sequencing of events, which was not easy, because in many instances people did not know the dates. When no dates or other evidence were available, I made the best educated guess that I could as to when and where to place a particular event in the text. As the author, I am ultimately responsible for the content of the book. Any errors within are my fault and will be corrected in future editions.