Among the bands later lumped into the catch-all genre ‘grunge,’ Alice In Chains have always been a contender for the heaviest. There’s an acid burn to their music, a sandblasted desert irritation and sprawled-out hopelessness that suggest good times in filthy clothes. And while a lot of that atmosphere comes the machete edge of Jerry Cantrell’s guitar and the primal rhythms of Sean Kinney’s drumming, perhaps the most identifiable aspect is the smirking, smokey voice of Layne Staley.
For fans of rock and metal, Layne’s hollered screams and harmonised chants with Cantrell touched on something raw and tormented. Unfortunately, it’s also easy to hear how the grinding need in his singing represented the thing that eventually consumed him at the time of his death 19 years ago. But his music carries on a legacy that continues to inspire fans, performers, and chased loners of all sorts to this day.
In honour the man himself, some of rock’s loudest voices spoke to us about Layne’s legacy and impact. Here’s what they had to say…