Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who then recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne Staley. Mike Starr was replaced in 1993 by Mike Inez. The band took its name from Staley's previous group, the glam metal band Alice N' Chains.

Although widely associated with grunge music, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal elements. Since its formation, Alice in Chains has released five studio albums, three EPs, three live albums, four compilations, two DVDs, 30 music videos and 28 singles. The band is known for its distinctive vocal style, which often included the harmonized vocals between Staley and Cantrell (and later Cantrell and William DuVall). Cantrell started to sing lead on the 1992 acoustic EP Sap, and his role continued to grow in the following albums, making Alice in Chains a two-vocal band.

Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with other Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. The band was one of the most successful music acts of the 1990s, selling over 20 million records worldwide, and over 14 million records in the US alone, with two No. 1 albums and six Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart. The band has had 16 Top 10 songs on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, 5 No. 1 hits, and nine Grammy Award nominations. Their debut album, Facelift, was released in 1990 and has been certified double-platinum by the RIAA, selling over two million copies. In 1992, the band's second album, Dirt, was released to critical acclaim and was certified quadruple platinum. Their second acoustic EP, Jar of Flies, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart in 1994, becoming the first ever EP and first Alice in Chains release to top the charts, and it has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA. The band's third album, Alice in Chains, was released in 1995 and has been certified double platinum. It achieved No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 chart.

Although never officially disbanding, Alice in Chains was plagued by extended inactivity from 1996 onwards due to Staley's substance abuse, which resulted in his death in 2002. The band reunited in 2005 for a live benefit show, performing with a number of guest vocalists. They toured in 2006, with William DuVall taking over as lead vocalist full-time. The new line-up released the band's fourth studio album, Black Gives Way to Blue, in 2009, which received gold certification by the RIAA and two Grammy nominations. Their fifth studio album, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, was released in 2013. The band toured extensively and released several videos in support of these albums.

Alice in Chains is currently working on their sixth studio album, tentatively set for release in early 2018.

Formation and early years (1984–1989)
Before the formation of Alice in Chains, then-drummer Layne Staley landed his first gig as a vocalist when he auditioned to sing for a local glam metal band known as Sleze after receiving some encouragement from his stepbrother Ken Elmer. Other members of this group at that time were guitarists Johnny Bacolas and Zoli Semanate, drummer James Bergstrom, and bassist Byron Hansen. This band went through several lineup changes culminating with Nick Pollock as their sole guitarist and Bacolas switching to bass before discussions arose about changing their name to Alice in Chains. This was prompted by a conversation that Bacolas had with Russ Klatt, the lead singer of Slaughter Haus 5, about backstage passes. One of the passes said "Welcome to Wonderland", and they started talking about that being a reference to Alice in Wonderland, until Klatt said, "What about Alice in Chains? Put her in bondage and stuff like that." Bacolas thought the name "Alice in Chains" was cool and brought it up to his Sleze bandmates and everyone liked it, so they decided to change the name of the band. Due to concerns over the reference to female bondage, the group ultimately chose to spell it differently as Alice N' Chains to allay any parental concerns, though Staley's mother Nancy McCallum has said she was still not happy with this name at first. According to Bacolas, the decision to use the apostrophe-N combination in their name had nothing to do with the Los Angeles band Guns N' Roses. The name change happened in 1986, well before Guns N' Roses became a household name with their first album Appetite for Destruction, released in July 1987.



Staley met guitarist Jerry Cantrell at a party in Seattle around August 1987. A few months before that, Cantrell had watched a concert of Staley's then-band, Alice N' Chains, in his hometown at the Tacoma Little Theatre and was impressed by his voice. Cantrell was homeless after being kicked out of his family's house, so Staley invited Cantrell to live with him at the rehearsal studio Music Bank, and the two struggling musicians became roommates.

Alice N' Chains soon disbanded, and Staley joined a funk band. Cantrell's band, Diamond Lie, broke up and he wanted to form a new band, so Staley gave him the phone number of Melinda Starr, the girlfriend of drummer Sean Kinney, so that Cantrell could talk to him. Cantrell called the number and set up a meeting with Kinney. Kinney and his girlfriend went to the Music Bank and listened to Cantrell's demos, who mentioned that they needed a bass player to jam with them, and he had someone in mind: Mike Starr, with whom Cantrell had played in a band in Burien called Gypsy Rose. Kinney then mentioned that his girlfriend was actually Mike Starr's sister, and that he had been playing in bands together with Starr since they were kids. Kinney called Starr and a few days later he started jamming with him and Cantrell at the Music Bank, but they didn't have a singer.

Staley's funk band also required a guitarist at the time, and Staley asked Cantrell to join as a sideman. Cantrell agreed on condition that Staley join his band, because Cantrell, Starr and Kinney wanted Staley to be their lead singer, so they started auditioning terrible lead singers in front of Staley to send a hint. The last straw for Staley was when they auditioned a male stripper – he decided to join the band after that. Eventually the funk project broke up, and in 1987 Staley joined Cantrell's band on a full-time basis. Two weeks after the band's formation, they were playing a gig at the University of Washington, trying to fill out a 40-minute set with a couple of original material along with Hanoi Rocks and David Bowie covers.

The band played a couple of gigs in clubs around the Pacific Northwest, calling themselves different monikers, including Diamond Lie, the name of Cantrell's previous band, and "Fuck", before eventually adopting the name that Staley's previous band had initially flirted with, Alice in Chains. Staley contacted his former bandmates and asked for permission to use the name. Nick Pollock wasn't particularly thrilled about it at the time and thought he should come up with a different name, but ultimately both he and James Bergstrom gave Staley their blessing to use the name.

Local promoter Randy Hauser became aware of the band at a concert and offered to pay for demo recordings. However, one day before the band was due to record at the Music Bank studio in Washington, police shut down the studio during the biggest cannabis raid in the history of the state. The final demo, completed in 1988, was named The Treehouse Tapes and found its way to the music managers Kelly Curtis and Susan Silver, who also managed the Seattle-based band Soundgarden. Curtis and Silver passed the demo on to Columbia Records' A&R representative Nick Terzo, who set up an appointment with label president Don Ienner. Based on The Treehouse Tapes, Terzo signed Alice in Chains to Columbia in 1989. The band also recorded another untitled demo over a three-month period in 1989. This recording can be found on the bootleg release Sweet Alice.

Facelift and Sap (1990–1992)
Alice in Chains soon became a top priority of the label, which released the band's first official recording in July 1990, a promotional EP called We Die Young. The EP's lead single, "We Die Young", became a hit on metal radio. After its success, the label rushed Alice in Chains' debut album into production with producer Dave Jerden. Cantrell stated the album was intended to have a "moody aura" that was a "direct result of the brooding atmosphere and feel of Seattle".

The resulting album, Facelift, was released on August 21, 1990, peaking at number 42 in the summer of 1991 on the Billboard 200 chart. Facelift was not an instant success, selling under 40,000 copies in the first six months of release, until MTV added "Man in the Box" to regular daytime rotation. The single hit number 18 on the Mainstream rock charts, with the album's follow up single, "Sea of Sorrow", reaching number 27, and in six weeks Facelift sold 400,000 copies in the US. The album was a critical success, with Steve Huey of AllMusic citing Facelift as "one of the most important records in establishing an audience for grunge and alternative rock among hard rock and heavy metal listeners."



Facelift was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by the end of 1990, while the band continued to hone its audience, opening for such artists as Iggy Pop, Van Halen, Poison, and Extreme.

The concert at the Moore Theatre in Seattle on December 22, 1990, was recorded and released on VHS on July 30, 1991 as Live Facelift. It features five live songs and three music videos. The home video has been certified gold by the RIAA for sales exceeding 50,000 copies.

In early 1991, Alice in Chains landed the opening slot for the Clash of the Titans tour with Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer, exposing the band to a wide metal audience but receiving mainly poor reception. Alice in Chains was nominated for a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy Award in 1992 for "Man in the Box" but lost to Van Halen for their 1991 album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

Following the tour, Alice in Chains entered the studio to record demos for its next album, but ended up recording five acoustic songs instead. While in the studio, drummer Sean Kinney had a dream about "making an EP called Sap". The band decided "not to mess with fate", and on March 21, 1992, Alice in Chains released their second EP, Sap. The EP was released while Nirvana's Nevermind was at the top of the Billboard 200 charts, resulting in a rising popularity of Seattle-based bands, and of the term "grunge music". Sap was certified gold within two weeks. The EP features guest vocals by Ann Wilson from the band Heart, who joined Staley and Cantrell for the choruses of "Brother", "Am I Inside", and "Love Song". The EP also features Mark Arm of Mudhoney and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, who appeared together on the song "Right Turn", credited to "Alice Mudgarden" in the liner notes.

In 1992, Alice in Chains appeared in the Cameron Crowe film Singles, performing as a "bar band". The band also contributed the song "Would?" to the film's soundtrack, whose video received an award for Best Video from a Film at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards.

Dirt (1992–1993)
In March 1992, the band returned to the studio. With new songs written primarily on the road, the material has an overall darker feel than Facelift, with six of the album's thirteen songs dealing with the subject of addiction. "We did a lot of soul searching on this album. There's a lot of intense feelings." Cantrell said, "We deal with our daily demons through music. All of the poison that builds up during the day we cleanse when we play".

On September 29, 1992, Alice in Chains released its second album, Dirt. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and since its release has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date. The album was a critical success, with Steve Huey of Allmusic praising the album as a "major artistic statement, and the closest they ever came to recording a flat-out masterpiece". Chris Gill of Guitar World called Dirt "huge and foreboding, yet eerie and intimate", and "sublimely dark and brutally honest". Dirt spawned five top 30 singles, "Would?", "Rooster", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", and "Down in a Hole", and remained on the charts for nearly two years. Alice in Chains was added as openers to Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tours tour. Days before the tour began, Layne Staley broke his foot in an ATV accident, forcing him to use crutches on stage.

Starr left the band shortly after the Hollywood Rock concert in Rio de Janeiro in January 1993, stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family. Staley told Rolling Stone in 1994 about Starr leaving the band, "It was just a difference in priorities. We wanted to continue intense touring and press. Mike was ready to go home." Years later, Starr claimed that he was fired due to his drug addiction. Starr was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez.

In 1993, the band recorded two songs with Inez, "What the Hell Have I" and "A Little Bitter", for the Last Action Hero soundtrack. During the summer of 1993, Alice in Chains toured with the alternative music festival Lollapalooza, their last major tour with Staley.

Jar of Flies (1993–1994)
Following Alice in Chains' extensive 1993 world tour, Staley said the band "just wanted to go into the studio for a few days with our acoustic guitars and see what happened". "We never really planned on the music we made at that time to be released. But the record label heard it and they really liked it. For us, it was just the experience of four guys getting together in the studio and making some music."

Columbia Records released Alice in Chains' second acoustic-based EP, Jar of Flies, on January 25, 1994. Written and recorded in one week, Jar of Flies debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first EP—and first Alice in Chains release—to top the charts.

Paul Evans of Rolling Stone called the EP "darkly gorgeous", and Steve Huey said, "'Jar of Flies' is a low-key stunner, achingly gorgeous and harrowingly sorrowful all at once". Jar of Flies features Alice in Chains' first number-one single on the Mainstream Rock charts, "No Excuses". The second single, "I Stay Away", reached number ten on the Mainstream rock charts, while the final single "Don't Follow", reached number 25. Jar of Flies has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA, with over 2 million copies sold in the United States during its first year.

After the release of Jar of Flies, Staley entered rehab for heroin addiction. The band was scheduled to tour during the summer of 1994 with Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, Danzig, and Fight, as well as a slot during Woodstock '94, but while in rehearsal for the tour, Staley began using heroin again. Staley's condition prompted the other band members to cancel all scheduled dates one day before the start of the tour, putting the band on hiatus. Alice in Chains was replaced by Candlebox on the tour. Susan Silver's management office sent out a statement saying that the decision to withdraw from the Metallica tour and Woodstock was "due to health problems within the band."

The band broke up for six months. Kinney told Rolling Stone in 1996, "Nobody was being honest with each other back then. If we had kept going, there was a good chance we would have self-destructed on the road, and we definitely didn't want that to happen in public."

Alice in Chains (1995–1996)
While Alice in Chains was inactive during 1995, Staley joined the "grunge supergroup" Mad Season, which also featured Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, bassist John Baker Saunders from The Walkabouts, and Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin. Mad Season released one album, Above, for which Staley provided lead vocals and the album artwork. The album spawned a number-two single, "River of Deceit", as well as a home video release of Live at the Moore.

In April 1995, Alice in Chains entered Bad Animals Studio in Seattle with producer Toby Wright, who had previously worked with Corrosion of Conformity and Slayer. While in the studio, an inferior version of the song "Grind" was leaked to radio, and received major airplay. On October 6, 1995, the band released the studio version of the song to radio via satellite uplink to stem excessive spread of taped copies of the song.

On November 7, 1995, Columbia Records released the eponymous album, Alice in Chains, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified double platinum. Of the album's four singles, "Grind", "Again", "Over Now", and "Heaven Beside You", three feature Cantrell on lead vocals. Jon Wiederhorn of Rolling Stone called the album "liberating and enlightening, the songs achieve a startling, staggering and palpable impact."

The song "Got Me Wrong" unexpectedly charted three years after its release on the Sap EP. The song was re-released as a single on the soundtrack for the independent film Clerks in 1994, reaching number seven on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The band opted not to tour in support of Alice in Chains, adding to the rumors of drug abuse.

Alice in Chains resurfaced on April 10, 1996, to perform their first concert in two and a half years for MTV Unplugged, a program featuring all-acoustic set lists. The performance featured some of the band's highest charting singles, including "Down in a Hole", "Heaven Beside You", "No Excuses" and "Would?", and introduced a new song, "Killer Is Me", with Cantrell on lead vocals. The show marked Alice in Chains' only appearance as a five-piece band, adding second guitarist Scott Olson. A live album of the performance was released in July 1996, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200, and was accompanied by a home video release, both of which received platinum certification by the RIAA. Alice in Chains performed four shows supporting the reunited original Kiss lineup on their 1996/97 Alive/Worldwide Tour, including the final live appearance of Layne Staley on July 3, 1996, in Kansas City, Missouri. Shortly after the show, Staley was found unresponsive after he overdosed on heroin and was taken to the hospital. Although he recovered, the band was forced to go on hiatus.

Hiatus and death of Layne Staley (1996–2002)
Although Alice in Chains never officially disbanded, Staley became a recluse, rarely leaving his Seattle condominium following the death of his ex-fiancée Demri Parrott due to infective endocarditis. "Drugs worked for me for years", Staley told Rolling Stone in 1996, "and now they're turning against me... now I'm walking through hell". Unable to continue with new Alice in Chains material, Cantrell released his first solo album, Boggy Depot, in 1998, also featuring Sean Kinney and Mike Inez.

In 1998, Staley reunited with Alice in Chains to record two new songs, "Get Born Again" and "Died". Originally intended for Cantrell's second solo album, the songs were reworked by Alice in Chains and were released in the fall of 1999 on the box set, Music Bank. The set contains 48 songs, including rarities, demos, and previously released album tracks and singles. The band also released a 15-track compilation titled Nothing Safe: Best of the Box, serving as a sampler for Music Bank, as well as the band's first compilation album; a live album, simply titled Live, released on December 5, 2000; and a second compilation, titled Greatest Hits in 2001.

By 2002, Cantrell had finished work on his second solo album, Degradation Trip. Written in 1998, the album's lyrical content focused heavily on what Cantrell regarded as the demise of Alice in Chains, which still remained evident as the album approached its June 2002 release. However, in March that year, Cantrell commented, "We're all still around, so it's possible [Alice in Chains] could all do something someday, and I fully hope someday we will."

Reflecting on the band's hiatus in a 2011 interview, Kinney told that Staley wasn't the only one battling addiction. "He was the focal point, like singers are. So they’d single him out. But the truth was, it was pretty much everybody. I definitely had my hand firmly on the wheel going off the cliff. And the reason we pulled back – you know when you stop when you have two #1 records, it’s not really the greatest career move – but we did that because we love each other and we didn’t want to die in public. And I know for a fact in my heart that if we were to continue that I wouldn’t be on the phone right now talking to you. I wouldn’t have made it. I just wouldn’t have."

After a decade of battling drug addiction, Layne Staley was found dead in his condominium in Seattle on April 19, 2002. The autopsy and toxicology report on Staley's body revealed that he died from a mixture of heroin and cocaine, known as "speedball". The autopsy concluded that Staley died on April 5, two weeks before his body was found. Cantrell dedicated his 2002 solo album, Degradation Trip, released two months after Staley's death, to his memory. Mike Starr later claimed on Celebrity Rehab that he was the last person to see Staley alive, and admitted to feeling guilty about not calling 911 after Staley had warned him against it. "I wish I hadn't been high on benzodiazepine [that night], I wouldn't have just walked out the door", Starr said.

Reunion shows and reformation (2005–2008)


In 2005, Sean Kinney came up with the idea of doing a benefit concert for the victims of the tsunami disaster that struck South Asia in 2004. Kinney made calls to his former bandmates, as well as friends in the music community, such as former Alice in Chains manager Susan Silver. Kinney was surprised by the enthusiastic response to his idea. On February 18, 2005, Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, and Sean Kinney reunited to perform for the first time in 10 years at K-Rock Tsunami Continued Care Relief Concert in Seattle. The band featured Damageplan vocalist Pat Lachman, as well as other special guests including Maynard James Keenan of Tool and Ann Wilson of Heart. A few months after that experience, the band called Susan Silver and Cantrell's manager Bill Siddons and said they wanted to tour as Alice in Chains again.

On March 10, 2006, the surviving members performed at VH1's Decades Rock Live concert, honoring fellow Seattle musicians Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. They played "Would?" with vocalist Phil Anselmo of Pantera and Down and bass player Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, and at the end of the performance Cantrell dedicated the show to Layne Staley and the late Pantera and Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell. They also played "Rooster" with Comes with the Fall vocalist William DuVall and Ann Wilson. The band followed the concert with a short United States club tour, several festival dates in Europe, and a brief tour in Japan. To coincide with the band's reunion, Sony Music released the long-delayed third Alice in Chains compilation, The Essential Alice in Chains, a double album that includes 28 songs.

Alice in Chains was approached by the producers of Rock Star for the second season of the reality show in which aspiring singers competed to become the lead singer of a featured group, but the band turned the offer down.

William DuVall met Jerry Cantrell in Los Angeles in 2000, and his band Comes with the Fall was both the opening act on Cantrell's tour for his second solo album, Degradation Trip, and also the singer's backing band, with DuVall singing Staley's parts at the concerts. DuVall joined Alice in Chains as lead singer during the band's reunion concerts in 2006, and made his first public performance with the band at VH1's Decades Rock Live concert. According to Cantrell, it only took one audition for DuVall to get the job. For his first rehearsal with the band, DuVall sang "Love, Hate, Love". After they finished, Sean Kinney looked at his bandmates and said, "I think the search is pretty much over". According to Mike Inez, DuVall didn't try to emulate Staley, and that's what drew them to him. Cantrell also revealed that singer Scott Weiland was interested in joining the band.

Duff McKagan again joined the band for the reunion tour, playing rhythm guitar on selected songs. Cantrell explained the reunion saying, "We want to celebrate what we did and the memory of our friend. We have played with some [singers] who can actually bring it and add their own thing to it without being a Layne clone. We're not interested in stepping on [Staley's] rich legacy. It's a tough thing to go through. Do you take the Led Zeppelin approach and never play again, because the guy was that important? That's the approach we've taken for a lot of years. Or, do you give it a shot, try something? We're willing to take a chance on it. It's completely a reunion because the three of us who're left are back together. But it's not about separating and forgetting — it's about remembering and moving on." Before the tour, Kinney mentioned in an interview that he would be interested in writing new material, but not as Alice in Chains.

Sean Kinney said about the band's reunion: "I never called Jerry; he never called me, and said, ’Hey, let’s get the band back together,’ you know? We had been taking every step extremely cautious and slow, and just doing whatever feels right: If it’s genuine and we’re doing it for genuine reasons and we’re all okay with it then we take a little step. None of us is broke. Nobody needs to be a rock dork, and you know, stroke their ego. I mean, we don’t really operate like that. So as long as it felt good and from the right place and it’s about making music and carrying on…".

About the pressure being put on DuVall for replacing Staley as lead vocalist, Cantrell said, "To put all that weight on Will’s shoulders is unfair. We’re just figuring out how we work as a team. Although the band has changed, we’ve lost Layne, we’ve added Will, and there was no master plan. Playing again in 2005 felt right, so we did the next thing and toured. We did it step by step. It’s more than just making music, and it always has been. We’ve been friends a long time. We’ve been more of a family than most, and it had to be okay from here", Cantrell said pointing to his heart.

Former The Doors manager Bill Siddons and his management company, Core Entertainment, co-managed Alice in Chains with original manager Susan Silver from 2005 to 2007.

The band started writing and demoing songs for a new album with DuVall in April 2007, but the band did not show further signs of progress until October 2008, when they announced that they had begun recording with producer Nick Raskulinecz in the studio.

Black Gives Way to Blue and death of Mike Starr (2008–2011)
Blabbermouth.net reported in September 2008 that Alice in Chains would enter the studio that October to begin recording a new album for a summer 2009 release. In October 2008, Alice in Chains began recording its fourth studio album at the Foo Fighters' Studio 606 in Los Angeles with producer Nick Raskulinecz. The band didn't have a record label at the time and the album was funded by Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney. At the Revolver Golden God Awards, Jerry Cantrell said that the group had finished recording in March 2009 and were mixing the album for a September release. In April 2009, it was reported that the new Alice in Chains album would be released by Virgin/EMI, making it the band's first label change in its 20-plus year career. Susan Silver, who started managing Alice in Chains in 1988, now co-manages the band with David Benveniste and his Velvet Hammer firm.

On June 11, 2009, Blabbermouth.net reported that the new album would be titled Black Gives Way to Blue and was officially set to be released on September 29, 2009. The title first appeared on Amazon.com without any prior announcement from the band. In addition, it was announced that Elton John plays piano on the title track, a tribute to Layne Staley written and sung by Cantrell. The album features new vocalist and rhythm guitarist William DuVall sharing vocal duties with lead guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, who sings lead vocals in most of the songs. DuVall sings lead vocals on the song "Last of My Kind".

On June 30, 2009, the song "A Looking in View" was made available for purchase via iTunes and Amazon, and for a limited time it was available as a free download through the official Alice in Chains website in early July. Although it wasn't the album's first radio single, Rock stations across the U.S. started playing the song. The music video for "A Looking in View" debuted via the band's official website on July 7, 2009. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

"Check My Brain" was released to radio stations as the first official single from the album on August 14, 2009, and was made available for purchase on August 17, 2009. The music video for "Check My Brain" premiered on September 14, 2009. The song was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Sean Kinney said about the new album and the fans' mixed reactions about the band moving on after Staley's death: "Look, it’s a big move to fucking stand up and move on. Some people, the music connected with them so strongly, their opinions, how they feel about it... It’s amazing that they have such a connection but they seem to act like it happened to them. This happened to us and Layne’s family, not them. This is actually our lives. If we’re okay with it, why can’t you be? This happened to us, this didn’t happen to you. But this album isn’t about that, it’s a bigger universal point. We’re all going to fucking die, we’re all going to lose somebody, and it fucking hurts. How do you move on? This record is us moving on, and hurting. That, to me, is a victory. I already feel like I’ve won." "Sometimes people ask us, ‘Wouldn’t Layne have been pissed off that we did this?’ And I tell them it would have been the opposite: he would have been pissed off that it took us so long to do this. We’re not doing this for money; there is no money in the music business anymore. Jerry and I funded the whole album, and we spent lots of our own money, because we believe in this. And one of the reasons I’m doing this is so more light is turned on to something where the light was turned off." And Cantrell added: "We’ve toured around the world, we’ve lost some friends, we buried a dear friend, and somebody that you just can’t fucking replace, and then we’ve chosen by circumstance to get together again. That turned into ‘maybe we can fucking do this.’ And that turned into this".

In September 2008, it was announced that Alice in Chains would headline Australia's Soundwave Festival in 2009, alongside Nine Inch Nails and Lamb of God. In February 2009, it was also announced that Alice in Chains would play at the third annual Rock on the Range festival. On August 1, 2009, Alice in Chains performed, along with Mastodon, Avenged Sevenfold, and Glyder, at Marlay Park, Dublin as direct support to Metallica. The band made an appearance on Later... With Jools Holland on November 10, 2009, performing "Lesson Learned", "Black Gives Way to Blue", and "Check My Brain" as the final performance of the episode.

To coincide with the band's European tour, Alice in Chains released its next single, "Your Decision", on November 16, 2009 in the UK and on December 1 in the US. The last single from the album was "Lesson Learned" and was released to rock radio in mid-June 2010.

Black Gives Way to Blue debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. On May 18, 2010, the album was certified gold by the RIAA for selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S. The singles "Check My Brain" and "Your Decision" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, while "Lesson Learned" reached No. 4. "Check My Brain" was also the band's first #1 song on the Alternative Songs chart, and on the Hot Rock Songs chart, it also reached No. 92 on Billboard's Hot 100, becoming the band's first single to appear on the chart.

Along with Mastodon and Deftones, Alice in Chains toured the United States and Canada in late 2010 on the Blackdiamondskye tour, an amalgam of the three bands' latest album titles (Black Gives Way to Blue, Diamond Eyes, and Crack the Skye).

On March 8, 2011, former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr was found dead at his home in Salt Lake City. Police told Reuters they were called to Starr's home at 1:42 pm and found his body; Starr was 44. Reports later surfaced that Starr's roommate had seen him mixing methadone and anxiety medication hours before he was found dead. Later reports indicated Starr's death may have been linked to two different types of antidepressants prescribed to him by his doctor. A public memorial was held for Starr at the Seattle Center's International Fountain on March 20, 2011. A private memorial was also held, which Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney attended according to Mike Inez.

The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2011–2016)
On March 21, 2011, Alice in Chains announced that they were working on a fifth studio album, and both Cantrell and Inez later made statements that they had begun the recording process. The album was expected to be finished by summer of 2012 and released by the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. While Alice in Chains were writing for the album in 2011, Cantrell required surgery, which delayed recording the new material. In an interview published in May 2012, Cantrell explained, "The thing that set me back is I had some bone spurs [and] cartilage issues in my shoulders. I had the same issue in the other shoulder about six years ago so I've had them both done now. It's a repetitive motion injury from playing."



In December 2012, Cantrell confirmed that the new album had been completed, and the first single, "Hollow", debuted online on December 18, available for digital download in January 2013, along with an official music video. On February 13, 2013, Alice in Chains posted on Facebook that their new album title would be an anagram of the letters H V L E N T P S U S D A H I E E O E D T I U R R. The next day they announced that the album would be called The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, which was released on May 28, 2013, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200. The band released videos for the songs "Stone," "Voices," and the title track later in 2013. "Hollow" and "Stone" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, while "Voices" reached No. 3, and each one of the three songs stayed on the chart for 20 weeks.

Alice in Chains toured extensively in the U.S., Canada, and Europe in 2013 and 2014. In May 2013, the band co-headlined the annual MMRBQ festival with Soundgarden in Camden, New Jersey. Asked in September 2013 if Alice in Chains would make another album, Cantrell replied, "It'll be a while. It's [been] four years since we put the last one out, but at least it's not the gap that was between the last one, so that's about right - about three to four years."



In January 2015, Alice in Chains performed in the halftime show of the NFC Championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. Cantrell is a lifelong Seahawks fan and often attends their games. In August 2015, Bassist Mike Inez said that the band had been "throwing around riffs for a new record" and "taking it nice and slow." The band toured in the summer of 2015 and the summer of 2016, including select shows opening for Guns N' Roses as part of the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.

In November 2016, Alice in Chains released a cover of the Rush song, "Tears", which was included in the 40th Anniversary release of the album 2112.

The home video Live Facelift was released on vinyl for the first time on November 25, 2016, as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event. The album features six songs and only 5000 copies were issued.

Next album (2017–present)
In January 2017, Mike Inez stated in an interview that the band had begun work on a new album. In June 2017, it was reported that the band would return to Studio X in Seattle to record a new album later that month, for a tentative early 2018 release. The sessions will be helmed by Nick Raskulinecz, who produced the band's last two albums. Studio X was the studio where Alice in Chains recorded its 1995 self-titled album. According to Inez, the band is not currently signed to a label, having completed its previous two-record contract with the Universal Music Group. "This [upcoming album], we're not sure where it's gonna land... I mean, we financed ['Black Gives Way To Blue'] on our own too, so we're not too worried about that stuff. We've just gotta get it out to ... a significant label [with worldwide distribution]."

On January 11, 2018, producer Nick Raskulinecz announced that the new album was nearly finished.

Alice in Chains are scheduled to perform at Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio in May 2018, alongside bands such as Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, A Perfect Circle and Stone Temple Pilots. The band will also headline the Carolina Rebellion in May 2018, and the Tons Of Rock Festival in Norway in June 2018, alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Helloween and others.

Musical style
Although Alice in Chains has been labeled grunge by the mainstream media, Jerry Cantrell identifies the band as primarily heavy metal. He told Guitar World in 1996, "We're a lot of different things ... I don't quite know what the mixture is, but there's definitely metal, blues, rock and roll, maybe a touch of punk. The metal part will never leave, and I never want it to". The Edmonton Journal has stated, "Living and playing in Seattle might have got them the grunge tag, but they've always pretty much been a classic metal band to the core."

Over the course of their career, the band's sound has also been described as alternative metal, sludge metal,    doom metal, drone rock, hard rock, and alternative rock. Regarding the band's constant categorization by the media, Cantrell stated "When we first came out we were metal. Then we started being called alternative metal. Then grunge came out and then we were hard rock. And now, since we've started doing this again I've seen us listed as: hard rock, alternative, alternative metal and just straight metal. I walked into an HMV the other day to check out the placement and see what's on and they've got us relegated back into the metal section. Right back where we started!". Drummer Sean Kinney rejects the grunge label, stating in a 2013 interview "I mean, before we first came out there was no grunge, they hadn’t invented that word. Before they invented the word grunge we were alternative rock and alternative metal and metal and rock, and we didn’t give a shit whatever, we were a rock and roll band!". According to Mike Inez, they were always the metal stepchildren of the Seattle scene.

Jerry Cantrell's guitar style combines "pummeling riffs and expansive guitar textures" to create "slow, brooding minor-key grinds". He is also recognized for his natural ability to blend acoustic and electric guitars. While down-tuned, distorted guitars mixed with Staley's distinctive "snarl-to-a-scream" vocals appealed to heavy metal fans, the band also had "a sense of melody that was undeniable", which introduced Alice in Chains to a much wider audience outside of the heavy metal underground.

According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, Alice in Chains' sound has a "Black Sabbath-style riffing and an unconventional vocal style". The band has been described by Erlewine as "hard enough for metal fans, yet their dark subject matter and punky attack placed them among the front ranks of the Seattle-based grunge bands". Three of the band's releases feature acoustic music, and while the band initially kept these releases separate, Alice in Chains' self-titled album combined the styles to form "a bleak, nihilistic sound that balanced grinding hard rock with subtly textured acoustic numbers".

Alice in Chains is also noted for the unique vocal harmonies of Staley (or DuVall) and Cantrell, which included overlapping passages, dual lead vocals, and trademark harmonies typically separated by a major third. Cantrell said it was Staley who gave him the self-assurance to sing his own songs. Alyssa Burrows said the band's distinctive sound "came from Staley's vocal style and his lyrics dealing with personal struggles and addiction". Staley's songs were often considered "dark", with themes such as drug abuse, depression, and suicide, while Cantrell's lyrics often dealt with personal relationships.

Legacy
Alice in Chains has sold over 14 million records in the United States, and over 20 million records worldwide, released two number-one albums, had 23 top 40 singles, and has received nine Grammy nominations. The band was ranked number 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Alice in Chains was named 15th greatest live band by Hit Parader, with vocalist Layne Staley placing as 27th greatest heavy metal vocalist of all time. The band's second album, Dirt, was named 5th best album in the last two decades by Close-Up magazine. In August 2009, Alice in Chains won the Kerrang! Icon Award.

In November 2011, Jar of Flies was ranked number four on Guitar World magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994. It was also featured in Guitar World magazine's "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list, and in May 2014, the EP was placed at number five on Loudwire's "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994" list.

According to Jon Wiederhorn of MTV, Godsmack has "sonically followed Alice in Chains' lead while adding their own distinctive edge". Godsmack singer and founder Sully Erna has also cited Layne Staley as his primary influence. Staind has covered Alice in Chains' song "Nutshell" live, which appears on the compilation The Singles: 1996-2006, and also wrote a song entitled "Layne", dedicated to Staley, on the album 14 Shades of Grey. Three Days Grace also performs a cover of "Rooster", which can be seen on the DVD Live at the Palace. Other bands that have been influenced by Alice in Chains include Creed, Nickelback, Taproot, Stone Sour, Puddle of Mudd, Queens of the Stone Age, A Pale Horse Named Death, Smile Empty Soul, Avenged Sevenfold, Cold, Hurt, Seether, Incubus, Hoobastank, Mudvayne, 10 Years, Breaking Benjamin, Days of the New, and Tantric. Metallica said they have always wanted to tour with the band, citing Alice in Chains as a major inspiration for their 2008 release, Death Magnetic. Metallica also recorded "Rebel Of Babylon" as a tribute to Layne Staley, but the song was left off Death Magnetic due to manufacturing restrictions and then later released on a four-song EP, Beyond Magnetic.

Alice in Chains has also had a significant influence on modern heavy metal. Their songs were covered by various metal bands such as Opeth, Dream Theater, Secrets of the Moon, Suicide Silence, and Grave. Pantera and Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell had expressed his admiration for Jerry Cantrell's guitar work in an interview for Guitar International saying that "the layering and the honest feel that Jerry Cantrell gets on [Alice in Chains' Dirt] record is worth a lot more than someone who plays five million notes". Anders Fridén of Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames cited Layne Staley as an inspiration for his vocals on the band's later albums. In addition to fellow musicians, the band has also received praise from critics, with Steve Huey of AllMusic calling them "one of the best metal bands of the '90s" upon reviewing the 1999 compilation Nothing Safe.

In 2017, Metal Injection ranked Alice in Chains at number 1 on their list of "10 Heaviest Grunge Bands".

In June 2017, Ozzy Osbourne ranked Facelift at number 2 on his list of "10 Favorite Metal Albums".

The claymation dolls of the band members used in the music video for "I Stay Away", are on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum.

Band members
Current members
 * Jerry Cantrell – lead guitar, vocals (1987–2002, 2005–present)
 * Sean Kinney – drums (1987–2002, 2005–present)
 * Mike Inez – bass (1993–2002, 2005–present)
 * William DuVall – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2006–present)

Former members
 * Layne Staley – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar (1987–2002)
 * Mike Starr – bass (1987–1993)

Awards and nominations
Alice in Chains has received nine Grammy nominations. Their first nomination was for the song "Man in the Box", nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1992. The album Dirt was nominated in the same category in 1993. Six more songs were nominated between 1995 and 2011, and the album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here was nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non Classical in 2014.

The music video for the song "Would?", Alice in Chains' contribution to the 1992 film, Singles, won the award for Best Video from a Film at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2009 they won the Kerrang! Icon award, and in 2010 they won two Revolver Golden Gods awards for Black Gives Way to Blue.

American Music Awards The American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973.


 * style="text-align:center;"| || Alice in Chains || Favorite New Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist || Nominated.
 * style="text-align:center;"| || Alice in Chains || Favorite New Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist || Nominated.

Concrete Foundations Awards The Concrete Foundations Awards was an awards ceremony held by the Foundations Forum to recognize the significant contributions made by key artists to the heavy metal genre and the music industry as a whole.


 * style="text-align:center;"| 1991 || Facelift || Best Debut Album || Won
 * style="text-align:center;"| 1991 || Facelift || Best Debut Album || Won

SPIN's Readers' Poll


 * style="text-align:center;"| 1993 || Dirt || Best Album || Won
 * style="text-align:center;"| 1993 || Dirt || Best Album || Won

'''Kerrang! Awards''' The Kerrang! Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by Kerrang!, a British rock magazine.


 * style="text-align:center;"| 2009 || Alice in Chains || Icon Award || Won
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2009 || Alice in Chains || Icon Award || Won

Revolver Golden Gods Awards The Revolver Golden Gods Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by Revolver, an American hard-rock and heavy metal magazine.


 * align="center" rowspan="2"| 2010 || Black Gives Way to Blue || Album of the Year || Won
 * | Alice in Chains || Comeback of the Year || Won
 * align="center" rowspan="2"| 2014 || "Hollow" || Song of the Year || Nominated
 * | Jerry Cantrell || Dimebag Darrell Best Guitarist(s) Award || Nominated
 * align="center" rowspan="2"| 2014 || "Hollow" || Song of the Year || Nominated
 * | Jerry Cantrell || Dimebag Darrell Best Guitarist(s) Award || Nominated
 * | Jerry Cantrell || Dimebag Darrell Best Guitarist(s) Award || Nominated
 * | Jerry Cantrell || Dimebag Darrell Best Guitarist(s) Award || Nominated

Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards The Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by Metal Hammer, a British heavy metal magazine.


 * style="text-align:center;"| 2013 || Alice in Chains || Icon Award || Won
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2013 || Alice in Chains || Icon Award || Won

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.


 * style="text-align:center;"| 1992 || "Man in the Box" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 1993 || Dirt || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 1995 || "I Stay Away" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 1996 || "Grind" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 1997 || "Again" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2000 || "Get Born Again" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2010 || "Check My Brain" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2011 || "A Looking in View" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2014 || The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here || Best Engineered Album, Non Classical || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 1997 || "Again" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2000 || "Get Born Again" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2010 || "Check My Brain" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2011 || "A Looking in View" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2014 || The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here || Best Engineered Album, Non Classical || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2011 || "A Looking in View" || Best Hard Rock Performance || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2014 || The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here || Best Engineered Album, Non Classical || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2014 || The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here || Best Engineered Album, Non Classical || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2014 || The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here || Best Engineered Album, Non Classical || Nominated

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV.


 * style="text-align:center;"| || "Man in the Box" || Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| || "Would?" from Singles || Best Video from a Film || Won
 * style="text-align:center;"| || "Again" || Best Hard Rock Video || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| || "Would?" from Singles || Best Video from a Film || Won
 * style="text-align:center;"| || "Again" || Best Hard Rock Video || Nominated
 * style="text-align:center;"| || "Again" || Best Hard Rock Video || Nominated

Discography

 * Facelift (1990)
 * Dirt (1992)
 * Alice in Chains (1995)
 * Black Gives Way to Blue (2009)
 * The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013)