Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

Layne with studio assistant Elan Trujillo, who was assigned to help him. Layne and Trujillo talked about video games, and Trujillo showed him how to use Offspring drummer Ron Welty’s electronic drum kit, August 22, 1998.

Annette Cisneros

Layne blowing out his thirty-first birthday cake while playing around on Ron Welty’s electronic drum kit, August 22, 1998.

Annette Cisneros

Alice in Chains regrouped while Jerry and Sean were touring with Metallica to record two new songs with Dave Jerden but were not able to finish with him. They had to ask Toby Wright to record the vocals in Seattle and put the songs together from the various sessions. These were the last songs Layne recorded.

Annette Cisneros

Sean and Jerry hugging after the K-ROCK Tsunami Continued Care Relief Concert, February 18, 2005. It was their first show as Alice in Chains in nearly a decade and their first since Layne’s death three years earlier.

Kevin Casey/Getty Images

Alice in Chains at the MusiCares MAP Fund benefit in 2012, where Jerry was honored for his support of the organization and helping other addicts. Jerry celebrated ten years of sobriety in July 2013.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

About the Author

David de Sola is a journalist with experience working at CNN, 60 Minutes, and Reuters, whose work has also been published in The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, and other print and online publications. He lives in Los Angeles.

Visit his Web site at www.daviddesola.com and follow him on Twitter @daviddesola. Or sign up for email updates here.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Epigraphs

Introduction

Part I: 1967–1984

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Part II: 1984–1989

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Part III: 1989–1996

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Part IV: 1996–2001

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Part V: 2001–2002

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Part VI: 2002–2014

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Acknowledgments

Interviews and Sources

Notes

Bibliography

Resources

Photographs

About the Author

Copyright

Copyright

THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.

An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

ALICE IN CHAINS. Copyright © 2015 by David de Sola. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.thomasdunnebooks.com

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by James Iacobelli

Cover photograph © Chris Cuffaro / Hellgate Photography

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

De Sola, David.

    Alice in Chains: the untold story / David de Sola.—First edition

        p. cm.

    ISBN 978-1-250-04807-3 (hardcover)

    ISBN 978-1-4668-4839-9 (e-book)

    1.  Alice in Chains (Musical group).   2.  Rock musicians—United States—Biography.   3.  Grunge music—United States—History and criticism.   4.  Title.

    ML421.A415D4 2015

    782.42166092'2dc—23

    [B]

2015017371

e-ISBN 9781466848399

First Edition: August 2015