Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

By the time Rachman delivered the first cut of the video, “Man in the Box” was peaking in its MTV popularity. The song got another boost after it was nominated for Best Metal/Hard Rock Video at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, scheduled for September. “In retrospect, we never had to go do this ‘Sea of Sorrow’ video in such a rush, because effectively ‘Man in the Box’ outlived and outperformed even the ‘Sea of Sorrow’ single that came after.”

The “Sea of Sorrow” video went through several cuts. Rachman kept arguing with Columbia Records, culminating with an incident in which he was on the phone with a vice president of the company, describing the feedback he was getting as “so ludicrous, and they had no ideas.” Rachman lost his temper, telling the executive to go fuck himself and hanging up the phone. He didn’t work with Columbia Records again until several years later. Rachman’s cut of the video began airing, but the label took some of his footage and provided it to another director, who added new black-and-white material he shot later. Both versions of the video would later surface on the Internet.

With “Man in the Box” as their breakout single and video, Alice in Chains was beginning to reap the rewards of years of hard work. For the rest of 1991, the band members would reach new professional heights, but at the same time, their future was about to take an ominous turn.

Chapter 13

When I took that first hit, for the first time in my life,

I got on my knees, and I thanked God for feeling good.

LAYNE STALEY

ALICE IN CHAINS GOT the nod to open for Van Halen’s North American tour from August 1991 to January 1992, with a few breaks scattered throughout. For Mike, it was the culmination of a high school dream. In his senior yearbook, he wrote that his goals were to become a rock star and tour with Van Halen. Seven years later, it was mission accomplished.

Former SATO guitarist Ken Kramer was sitting at home one night when he got a call from Mike, saying, “Dude! I can’t talk very long. I have this girl’s cell phone and I’m in the bathroom. We’re about to open for Van Halen! Man, I love you so much! I wanted to call you. I want you to be here—this is so great! I wanted to share it with you. I’m going to try and call everybody I know before she finds me!”1

Sammy Hagar claimed credit for getting Alice in Chains on the bill. “I picked this band,” he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “I said, ‘Let’s find a new cool band that needs exposure.’ I was watching MTV and saw the [‘Man in the Box’] video. Layne [Staley] is one of the great new singers today.”2

On September 5, both bands were on hand at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles for the MTV Video Music Awards, and both were nominees. Paul Rachman was with the band at the ceremony. He recalls seeing a red-carpet interview with Metallica being broadcast inside the venue. When they were asked who should win, they responded “Man in the Box.” When it was time to announce the winner for Best Metal/Hard Rock Video, Rachman, who was sitting a few rows behind the band, said, “I remember sitting there at the MTV Awards and they come up and it’s like, ‘A…,’ and I thought it was gonna be Alice in Chains, and it was Aerosmith. I was like, ‘Aw, shit.’”3

It was also during this tour that a dangerous new element would be added to the Alice in Chains mix, one that would have repercussions on everyone for years, in ways they probably couldn’t have imagined.

*   *   *

If there is a villain in this story, it would unquestionably be heroin. No biography of Alice in Chains could be considered credible without examining the consequential and ultimately destructive role of the drug in the band’s art and personal lives, particularly for Layne and Mike Starr.