- It's believed he died on April 5, 2002. The autopsy report from the May 7, 2002, from the King County Medical Examiner's Office confirms that Staley died after injecting a "speedball", a mixture of heroin and cocaine. He had been dead for about two weeks when his body was discovered on April 19, and was surrounded by drug paraphernalia. His body was so decomposed when found that it was only identified as that of Layne Staley after a check of the dental records.
- Wrote about his struggles with heroin addiction in such songs as "Angry Chair", "Junkhead", "God Smack", "Hate To Feel" and "Nutshell".
- He became extremely angry when people made fun or light of his drug addiction. When The Rocket, a now-defunct Seattle-area music magazine, wrote an article on the retirement of Alice in Chains' longtime manager that included the words "But who's to wipe and change Alice in Chains now?", Layne evidently took great umbrage to this and sent them a jar of urine and a bag of human feces with an attached note that read "Wipe and change this, motherfuckers!".
- In high school, Layne sang in a glam-rock band called "Alice N Chains." Upon the formation of the rejuvenated Alice in 1987 with Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Starr, the group re-spelled it's name to Alice in Chains and adopted a heavier, metal-influenced sound.
- He was a huge video game fan. He once boasted that when he got his first credit card, he maxed it out at a Toys R' Us buying video games. One of the very last photos taken of him had him wearing a Metal Gear Solid t-shirt and the condo that he bought some time before his death also apparently had a massive TV that he used almost exclusively for gaming, and at his final recording session (the one that produced "Get Born Again" and "Died"), he spent a good deal of time talking to the runner about certain PlayStation games and giving him tips on how to get ahead or beat certain parts that he was having problems with upon noticing a console that was hooked up in the studio.
- Following his death, his friend and Alice in Chains guitarist, Jerry Cantrell, adopted Staley's cat, a female Siamese named Sadie. The cat appeared on Cantrell's episode of MTV Cribs, which was shot at Cantrell's ranch in Oklahoma in September 2002. Sadie died on the same night of Alice in Chains' concert in Seattle on October 8, 2010, aged 18. She lived with Cantrell's family in Oklahoma until her death.
- Staley's Alice in Chains' bandmates and friends, Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney, have expressed their frustration over the Grammy Awards ignoring Staley during their annual tribute to the musicians who have passed away over the past year during their 2003 ceremony.
- In 2010, in an interview on VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Staley's mother, Nancy McCallum, former Alice in Chains bass player, Mike Starr, said that he spent time with Staley the day before he died, as Starr's birthday was on April 4. Starr claimed that Staley was very sick but would not call 911. The two ex-bandmates briefly argued, which ended with Starr storming out. Starr stated that Staley called after him as he left and his last words were: "Not like this, don't leave like this". Since Staley is believed to have died a day later, on April 5, Starr expressed regret that he did not call 911 to save his friend's life. Starr was the last known person to see Staley alive. The interview ended with Starr apologizing to McCallum for not calling 911. Starr kept this story a secret until his appearance on Celebrity Rehab in February 2010.
- Eddie Vedder wrote the song "4/20/02" in the night that he found out about Staley's death, on April 20, 2002. Vedder also paid tribute to him during a Pearl Jam concert in Chicago on August 22, 2016, the day of Staley's 49th birthday; "It's the birthday of a guy called Layne Staley tonight, and we're thinking of him tonight too. 49 years old", Vedder told the crowd before dedicating the song "Man of the Hour" to his late friend.
- Managed to live to see his newborn nephew Oscar, who was born months before his death. Layne's mother reportedly owns the most recent photo of Layne holding his nephew.
- The music video for Alice in Chains' 2013 single, "Voices", features a picture of Staley next to a photo of Nirvana's frontman, Kurt Cobain, at the 2:20 mark.
- He had a death similar to that of Kenny MacLean and Kurt Cobain, in that nobody found him for days.
- Was a close friend of former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan, of Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, and of late singers Andrew Wood from Mother Love Bone, Shannon Hoon from Blind Melon and Chris Cornell, from Soundgarden and Audioslave. Staley's Alice in Chains' bandmates Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney have both described him as their best friend.
- His last name is pronounced "stay-lee".
- His favorite bands were Black Sabbath (whom Layne cited as his first influence), Metallica, Exodus, Anthrax, Judas Priest, Saxon, Rainbow, Mercyful Fate, Twisted Sister, Van Halen, Ministry, The Lords of the New Church and Skinny Puppy.
- Despite a 10+ year collaboration as Alice in Chains, Layne was occasionally at odds with guitarist Jerry Cantrell. They disagreed on several things, including whether Alice in Chains should continue touring (which they had not done since 1996) and recording (other than two new songs in 1999, the band had not released an album since 1995). As a result, they stopped speaking to each other for a while. Despite the feud, Cantrell decided not to continue Alice in Chains without Staley after he died. A reunion tour began in 2005 with various guest vocalist. In 2009, the band released the album "Black Gives Way to Blue" featuring William DuVall on vocals.
- His long-time girlfriend (and former fiance) Demri Parrott died of a drug overdose in October 1996. Their relationship had ended about two years earlier, but they remained close before her death. Sources close to Staley say he never got over Demri's death, and this was the reason Layne became a recluse and resumed his drug addiction over the last five years of his life.
- After his death, at least 100 people (friends and fans), many carrying candles and flowers, gathered at Seattle Center's International Fountain on April 20, 2002 to remember Staley, including Alice in Chains' bandmate Jerry Cantrell and friend Chris Cornell, who dyed his hair blonde in tribute to Staley. Cornell alongside Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson, performed a rendition of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" and The Lovemongers' song "Sand" at Staley's funeral on April 28, 2002.
- He was the lead singer for the grunge supergroup Mad Season, which featured members of Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees. Mad Season released their only album in 1995 called "Above", featuring the hit single "River of Deceit".
- His last interview was for radio program Rockline on July 19, 1999. The show was hosting Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, and (via telephone) Sean Kinney for a discussion on the release of Alice in Chains' compilation "Nothing Safe: Best of the Box", when, unexpectedly, Staley called in to participate in the discussion. He didn't give another interview after that and lived recluse until his death. The controversial biography "Layne Staley: Angry Chair" (2003), features an alleged interview that Argentinian fan, Adriana Rubio, claims to have conducted with Staley a few months before his death in 2002. Rubio interviewed Staley's mother, Nancy Layne McCallum, and his sister, Liz Coats, to write the book, she also had access to Staley's art work, sketches, diary entries and childhood pictures. Staley's sister, Liz Coats, stated that she talked with Layne to let him know of Rubio's intentions to write a book about him, and he said that he wasn't interested in it, he did not trust journalists, and that they had never been honest in his experience. He also told his sister to tell Rubio: "Tell her if she wants to write a book about someone, she should write it about herself." Coats along with other family members and friends, have stated that Rubio's book is full of lies and she never interviewed him, and his family felt betrayed after they saw the content of her book. Coats stated that she unfortunately had to learn the hard way that Rubio was not to be trusted, and what she claims to be Staley's last interview was actually fabricated by herself. Rubio's interview portrays Staley as using lyrics from Alice in Chains and Mad Season in casual conversation, besides using quotes from previous printed interviews. Public records prove that Staley never quoted his own lyrics or song titles during an interview. By 1996, Staley already had trouble remembering his own lyrics, as can be seen on the "MTV Unplugged" concert. Rubio also refuses to release the tape that she claims that contains her interview with Staley. The publisher who worked on Rubio's book, Craig Chilton, stated that he did not review any tapes or transcripts, and if Rubio had such things, he never saw them, he just cleaned the book up grammatically and spelling-wise.
- In 2013, Alice in Chains drummer, Sean Kinney, added the initials "LSMS" on his drum kit, a tribute to Staley and the band's former bassist Mike Starr, who died in 2011.
- Jerry Cantrell always pays tribute to Staley before performing the song "Nutshell" with Alice in Chains. Since 2011, Cantrell pays tribute to both Staley and Mike Starr before performing the song at concerts. For the show in São Paulo on September 26, 2013, the band had t-shirts of Brazil national football team with the names "Staley" and "Starr" on display at the stage.
- Staley was born Layne Rutherford Staley. "Layne" was his mother's maiden name. Friends have told that Staley didn't like the name "Rutherford" and would get angry everytime someone called him by this name. A court document from his parents' divorce identified him as "Layne R. Staley". In a 2017 interview with Northwest Music Scene, Staley's mother revealed that he legally changed his middle name to "Thomas" during his teens because he was a fan of Tommy Lee from Mötley Crüe. He took his stepfather's name and was known in high school as "Layne Elmer".
- He was the lead vocalist for alternative rock band Alice in Chains. The band became famous for being part of the Grunge movement in Seattle in the early 90's.
- Staley had two tattoos. In 1988, Staley and Jerry Cantrell decided to get the "brothers tattoo". Cantrell got a screaming skull on his right shoulder, and Staley got a smiling skull with an Elvis hairdo and sunglasses on his left shoulder. Staley's skull tattoo is mentioned on the song "Sea of Sorrow", in the lines "You opened fire / Aim my smilin' skull at you" - the lyrics were written by Cantrell. Staley also tattooed on his back the Jesus with his eyes sewn shut from the music video of "Man In the Box".
- The first concert that he attended was Elton John's when he was a kid. In 2009, Elton John joined Alice in Chains (in their first album in 14 years and the first without Staley), to make a tribute to Staley playing piano in the song "Black Gives Way To Blue", the title track described by Jerry Cantrell as the band's goodbye to Staley.
- Jerry Cantrell dedicated his solo album, "Degradation Trip", released two months after Staley's death (but recorded in 2000), to his memory.
- Jerry Cantrell used to call him "Blanche". And Staley nicknamed Cantrell as "Satan Hoof". They revealed this during an interview with radio Rockline in 1998.
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