Layne Staley Dead.

I'm not saying he's a loser. I am saying he was a junkie that played with his life and lost. It happens every single day in America. Why is his stupidity any more important than the crack whore who smokes a bad rock and dies in the process?

 

I liked Creed's very first album...their new one wants to make me vomit.

 

God, I love the ignorance on this thread...junkies are losers, and all that crap. If only you people realized about addictions, be it alcohol, smack, gambling, food, sex....that some people just haven't developed real life-coping skills. It angers and saddens and sickens me to hear ANYONE's death treated like a damn entertainment know-it-all offhand comment. Some of you people have NO clue about life outside your action figure collections and your video game secrets.

Following is the body of an email I sent to some friends and family members this morning:

This isn't the sort of thing I would normally talk about when sending
email, but as the song goes, "I read the news today, oh boy...." Those who
know me well will understand why I felt I had to say something while the
feelings are fresh....

Layne Staley was the vocalist for Alice in Chains, a group whose music
and lyrical content I immediately identified with when I was first
introduced to the Facelift album 11 years ago. That was the heydey of
grunge, when suddenly it was fashionable to spew all the anger and doubt and
fear where before we hid in our MTV fantasies and the false security of the
Reaganbush era. Alice in Chains and Layne in particular I understood,
because he spoke to me, and he spoke FOR me. Like me, his life was fraught
with bad decisions, an addictive personality, and a penchant for doing
things that erased the pain momentarily, but amplified it when the high went
away and the painful thing was still there. He grabbed me and took me down
nasty, sick, ugly roads that I knew all too well through my own personal
life and my own addictions. And they were comfortable places to me, because
I was so frightened to be accountable and make changes that needed to be
made. I didn't know how to get there, or what to do when I got there.

But my Higher Power was always there, keeping me alive through those
dark times, and I never realized that, even when I kicked drugs over seven
years ago, when angels and messengers were placed in my path and I scarcely
acknowledged them at the time, when I hit emotional, spiritual and mental
bottom numerous times, and when I finally made a concrete decision to get
help, get sober and become a full partner in my own recovery on April 9,
2001. There are things much bigger than me, and there is a real live gift
inside my own skin....and I learn the truth little by little, one day at a
time, because that's all I have. That's all we have, regardless of the faith
we place in ourselves.

Getting straight with myself doesn't mean overnight changes by any
means, and I've learned these things painfully and have grown from them
stronger and a little wiser by tiny degrees. Music is one of my great loves,
and I never abandoned it...not even the music that spoke to me personally.
It's part of the soundtrack of my life, and I acknowledge and accept it. Not
only did Alice in Chains ROCK, but Layne Staley was still there, still
fighting, even though they weren't recording and touring and hadn't for some
years due to Layne's problems. "There but for the grace of god go I...."
And I prayed for him....I really did. I was hoping somehow, some way, he
would find answers, a path to take, something or someone to believe in. That
he could do wonderful things with his gift and his talents and his life.

His body was found yesterday in his apartment. Details are very slim,
but one can make some educated guesses as to the circumstances of his death.
And the news hit me like a sledgehammer in my gut. I am still saddened and
angry....my first response was to want to break my coffee table with my
fists. I was fuming and close to tears. Okay, an overreaction, perhaps, but
to those who have walked my shoes, the feelings are understandable. Layne's
death was not completely unexpected for me, but I always hoped he might
catch a glimpse of something greater than the needle and spoon, something
bigger than his own existence. He was a brother by defect...and now he's
free of the mortal

 

It is not confirmed that he died of Heroin !!! Stop assuming and bashing!

Ohh.. so much to reply to.

To all the people who are calling him a loser & a druggie. He had a PROBLEM. Who are YOU to judge him? You didn't know him, for all you know he could have been the sweetest guy in the world, someone you would have gotten along with great. But all you can do is call him a loser because of the little bit that you know about him involves drugs. Yes, I think it is stupid for anyone to take up drugs knowing what it can do to you, especially in the Seattle music community when so many of them have taken the wrong path. But I'm not going to call him a loser when I really know nothing about his personal troubles, other than what an average fan knows.

And the reason so many of us are upset, even though we didn't know him was because his music made an impact in our lives, I can't say that about some random person I read about in the obituaries. All of us fans "knew" him on some level, through his music. And for that, we are sad that his voice is silenced forever. We will never again get to share his wonderful music.

Andrew Wood finally will get to jam with Layne I bet they put on one hell of a show.

"They also have a former heroin addict in the group (hint: it's not Vedder)"
I don't think Mike ever turned to heroin. He said in an interview that that was the one drug he wouldn't touch. His problem was mainly with alcohol and pills. I'm so happy he's ok now, I just hope he doesn't go back to it like he has in between albums before.

I need a break.

 

I'm with Loli and RB. You treat this as if it's nothing! All death is important in one way or another. Seriously, the fact that it (this is where Loli comes in) may have been a heroine overdose makes it none the less tragic. Some people have no respect for life
_jOBO

 

Lolipon: PJ's 'Habit' is supposedly about Mike's experimentation w/ the drug.

 

The reason people care more that Layne died than the crackhead down the street is because the crackhead down the street didn't offer anything to them on a personal level. It's human nature to only feel for the people who have given you something in return. He gave us music.

You can empathize with anyone dying but you are only truly touched by the ones who have touched you.

 

Yodafett, perfect words. They speak for my feelings about Layne and his death compared to others.

 

Just another example of why drugs should never be legalized. Not to mention my approach to drug treatment needs to be implimented. Caught doing drugs then you go not to jail but to a mandatory drug treatment facility where you will stay until you go cold turkey. If you get out and do more drugs well you go back. There is no choice in the matter. When I say cold turkey that is exactly what I mean. You are cut off from the rest of the world. Your life as you know it is over, because that was apparently the life you were trying to escape from because you were doing drugs in the first place. You go to counciling 6 times a week, and your old habits are done away with.

It's a shame he died, but he is not the first and certainly will not be the last. The only way to cure yourself of smoking, drinking is cutting off your supply and your routine of life you have been living. Until people realize this, and throw out this free will stuff then we are waiting for the next one to die. I shed no tears for him and go ahead and call me a cold hearted bastard but I said the same thing about Kurt Cobain. I shed no tears for him or any of the others. The voluntary treatment crap must end, because it only works on a few people, the rest slip through the cracks.

 

I agree with you.

Instead of throwing drug addicts into prisons, where virtually no treatment and help exists, and compounds the problems, they should be taken to a special kind of rehab center that they can't get out of until completing certain steps towards getting sober.

 

Here's the problem with your mandatory cold-turkey approach: it would NEVER work. Recovery is only possible if the addict/user truly WANTS to recover, and takes an active role in that. One can't be forced to do anything, regardless of what the courts and doctors may say. Most people in rehab are actually in the best place they can be; often they are there by choice. Rehab is a crucible: you come out changed by it, if you truly realize what's at stake. Or you shrug it off and go back out there and wind up in worse shape than ever.

Addiction is a cunning, baffling, powerful disease that has nothing to do with willpower. Willpower itself often fuels the disease. Even realizing that life for the addict is unmanageable is a terrible pill to swallow ( pardon the phraseology ).

And there are no sure bets in recovery, either. I've seen people with over twenty years of sobriety go back out and die sooner or later, or creep back in defeat. I've seen patients check out of rehab against medical advice and return the next day on a gurney because they were found in a hotel room with a needle in their arm ( or wherever they could find a vein ). There is no cure for addiction.

I say again: THERE IS NO CURE FOR ADDICTION.

Personal recovery is a program of eternal vigilance dependent upon spiritual and behavioral progress, and upon giving back some of what's been taught, whether sharing in a meeting or volunteering to work with addicts in rehab.

Layne was a warrior soulbrother by defect, and bless his tortured soul...but he kept MY ass sober today.

Bri

 

There is a way to go cold turkey. With this mandatory rehab you will learn several strategies of how to do other things and find alternatives to using drugs. When I say cold turkey that means for an entire year, because that is the minimum stay. After a year of not having that drug in your system along with new methods of thinking then your given a probationary period in which you will be let out in the real world, however each month you must pass a drug test. This goes on for another year until you are taken off probation.

The key is de-toxing the system of the drug. Then figure out where the people went wrong.

 

The problem is that, just as the previous poster said, many drug users don't want to stop using drugs. I know many, many people that use drugs in varying degrees and none of them want to stop. They don't do it to escape anything, they have fine lives, they do it because they like the feeling they get when shooting up/smoking up/snorting/dropping........whatever.

The other problem you run into is taking these people out of their lives for a year. What if they are in school? Are you going to help them get back into it so they can get a job and become a productive member of society? What if they are single parents. Are you going to take their children and throw them into a foster care system? What if it is an 70 year old man who smokes it for his glaucoma? Is it a blanket program or are their variables involved? Do you do it just for drugs or do you do it for drunk drivers as well? If not, why not?

Forced rehab will never accomplish anything. All it will do is cause people to be more secretive about it. People will always do what they want to do, law or no law. Our moral boundaries are flexible and people take advantage of that on a daily basis.

 

This is important stuff to talk about. Up.

Bri

 

He was dead for two weeks before anyone found him.

He was a great musician. Mad Season and the early Alice in Chains albums are fantastic. It's sad that such a talented person has passed, but not unexpected at all. Jar of Flies was Staley's last album he really seems to have worked on, as the next self titled album was really sub-par. I believe Cantrell wrote most of those songs.

Anyways, I guess there will never be that second Mad Season album, which was one of the best albums of the 90s.

 

Loser???

Talk about loser. How many hours do you "holier than thou" punks spend "online" everyday.

sick, sick. Yeah the guy had a problem with heroin. That is not any reason to disrespect him.

So will it be safe to say "cool" when you internet junkies get colon cancer and die from sitting on your punk arses all day eating junk food and being depressed about not being able to get a girlfriend.

yeah i'm directing this pretty much towards

edit: I won't even bother typing their screen names.

I've wasted enough time thinking how stupid these posters are.

jerks!!!!

 

I would love to have been able to hear a second Mad Season album. McCready has often said had he not been a part of the first Mad Season record he probably would have left Pearl Jam, because at that point in time he had been reduced to a "ok, play your solo here" role in the band.

 

I'm not an Alice In Chains fan at all, but I was bummed to hear about Staley's death nonetheless. It's always a drag when a talented musician lets his partying get away with him and dies because of it. I'm sure not gonna get up on a high horse and start calling the guy worthless just because he got high. That's overly simplistic and pompous as hell, IMHO and I think it says more about the ego of the accusers than it does about the person who died. Layne Staley played music that a lot of people dug, and in doing so he added to the worlds of his fans on a positive level. Most of us will never make that level of creative contribution, regardless of our decisions to get high or not... something to consider when we start getting all judgemental about Staley's personal problems.

 

I will leave it with this. It's obvious that the old ways of doing things isn't working, so try out a forced rehab.

As for if someone is in school. Well first off, this program requires a lot of different professions coming together for a common cause. That is doctors, councilers and teachers. So that all angles are covered.

I don't understand how everyone feels sad for someone when they die as a result of drugs. Well that's great and all, but sometimes people need a good swift kick in the butt to motivate them and get them to do the right thing. If you truely love somone you will make their life a living hell until they learn the errors of their ways. You can't just sit back and do nothing. All I ever hear people say in situations like this is "I wish I had done more and been there and forced them to stop." Well then dammit do it.

 

Ok, everyone, let's put a lid on it. This is meant to be a memorial, a "wake" if you will for this artist. Calling him a loser or saying that he deserved it is not appropriate here. Whether you feel it is true or not, it doesn't belong in a place of mourning.

 

I was introduced to AIC about 6 years ago by a friend and "No Excuses" is still one of my favourite songs.

RIP, Layne Staley.

We chase misprinted lies
We face the path of time
And yet I fight
And yet I fight
This battle all alone
No one to cry to
No place to call home

 

I'm glad there are some decent people out there who still have hearts. Thanks to everyone who didn't bash Layne. I don't have any more to add to this, other than the fact that I hope he rests in peace.

RIP Layne.... you will be sorrowfully missed.

 

I think of myself as priviledged to have seen Layne and all of AIC in their last national tour back in 1993. They put on a hellva show. They were/are such a gritty band with songs that mean so much to so many different people. One song pops to mind really showing the pain Layne personally went threw with his drug battle. The song's name is Junkhead. That song embodies the difficulties a person with an addiction goes through in trying to kick the habit. If you have never heard the song, you should really find a way to listen to.

I take comfort in knowing that even though Layne is dead, he will continue to help and comfort people for years to come with his music. May you rest in peace Layne.

 

Two weeks.

TWO FRIGGEN' WEEKS!

It sickened me when I read that.

The strangest thing is, that if he died exactly two weeks before they found him, he would have died the same day Kurt did.
Too weird...

 

Thought you kids would like this for you: Alice in Chains poll