Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

This book was done without the cooperation of the band, their management, or their record label. It was challenging, but not impossible, to get around their policy of not commenting. I don’t like the terms authorized and unauthorized biographies for different reasons. To me, authorized biographies carry a connotation of official public-relations spin, in addition to the blessing and cooperation of the subjects. That is not what this book is. On the other hand, unauthorized biographies sound like the content is sleazy, gossipy tabloid trash. That is not what this book is, either. Although drugs are part of the story, I didn’t want this book to be Requiem for a Dream with a Seattle grunge setting. I also didn’t want this book to read like a typical rock band biography. The approach and writing were more influenced by the works of Walter Isaacson and Bob Woodward than Stephen Davis or Mick Wall—no disrespect to Mr. Davis or Mr. Wall.

This book is the improbable, funny, tragic, and ultimately triumphant story of how Alice in Chains came to be and emerged as one of the most influential bands of the Seattle grunge scene. It is also the culmination of more than a decade of experience in journalism and academia, and I’ve tried to adhere to the high standards I’ve encountered in both.

PART I 1967–1984

I never planned out my life. Shit just happens.

Layne Staley

Chapter 1

You can’t freaking sing!

KEN ELMER

LAYNE RUTHERFORD STALEY was born on Tuesday, August 22, 1967, at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington. His parents, Phillip Blair Staley and Nancy Elizabeth Layne, were living in the town of Kirkland, located along the eastern shore of Lake Washington.1

Layne’s birth was announced in the “Born Yesterday” section of the next day’s edition of The Seattle Times. Under the subheading “To Mr. and Mrs.—” the section is an alphabetical listing of every child born the previous day in each hospital in the greater Seattle area. The final birth listed under Overlake Hospital reads, “Phillip B. Staley, 10146 N.E. 64th St., Kirkland, boy.”2

Phil and Nancy, who were twenty-nine and nineteen at the time, had been married by a minister nearly six months earlier in a ceremony witnessed by Paul R. Staley, the groom’s brother, and Margaret Ann Layne, the bride’s sister. The previous summer, Nancy had competed in the Miss Washington Pageant as Miss Bellevue. When Phil and Nancy’s engagement was announced in January 1967, Nancy was a student at the Cornish School of Allied Arts.3 She was the oldest of Robert L. Layne and Ann J. Becker’s three daughters. Her parents were both graduates of the University of Washington, where they were involved in the fraternity and sorority scene on campus.

Phil was the oldest of Earl R. and Audrey Staley’s four sons. He went to Denver University, where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. A car salesman by profession, Phil had the car business in his genes going back two generations.4 His father, Earl R. Staley, had been involved in trailer manufacturing and related industries since 1935, when he was just twenty-one years old. Phil’s grandfather, Earl B. Staley, was born in Kansas in 1884, from which the family relocated to Denver, according to the 1900 U.S. Census. Earl, who worked in the automobile and truck industry, began his career in Denver in 1903, working in various capacities in the field until he relocated to Seattle in 1907 after accepting a job as service manager for the Pacific Coast Automobile Sales Company.5

In September 1970, when Layne was three, his mother gave birth to his sister Elizabeth Audreyann Staley. His affinity for music showed at an early age. Layne told Rolling Stone his first memory was of looking up at a musical carousel hanging over his crib.6

According to his other sister Jamie Elmer, Layne was known for being very focused as a child. “He would really be into whatever drawing he was doing or art project. He was really focused. I remember [Nancy] saying that [if] he was really focused on … drawing something or playing with Legos or Tinkertoys [and] she’d put a sandwich in front of his nose … he wouldn’t even notice. He was so into whatever art or craft he was doing at the time.”

She also described Layne as being very close to Liz. “I don’t ever remember hearing stories of them not being close. And definitely because of them having the same parents and being full brother and sister, there was a closeness between the two of them that was pretty apparent and special and different than with the rest of us.”