Artiste · États-Unis
Layne Staley
Depuis 1967 · Séparé en 2002
Spectacles à venir
Pas encore de date annoncée.
Bio
Layne Thomas Staley, né le 22 août 1967 à Kirkland et mort le 5 avril 2002 à Seattle (États-Unis), est un chanteur, musicien et auteur-compositeur américain.
La quasi-totalité de ses activités musicales est associée au groupe Alice in Chains dont il fut le cofondateur en 1987.
Il est connu pour sa voix ténor, qui couvre 3,5 octaves et ses textes tournant souvent autour de la décadence et de la mélancolie. Ils ont été décrits comme « sombres » car ils parlent de sujets tels que la douleur, la dépression, le suicide, la solitude ou la dépendance.
Staley rejoint le groupe Sleze (en) en 1984 à l'âge de 17 ans. Deux ans après, le groupe est renommé Alice in Chains. En 1987, Staley et le guitariste Jerry Cantrell, du groupe de glam metal Diamond Lie, forment Alice in Chains, en référence au premier nom qu'Alice in Chains avait choisi avant d'en changer légèrement, car trop provocant. En 1990, le groupe sort son premier album Facelift, puis l'album Dirt en 1992, qui connait un grand succès commercial.
Sous l'influence de la grande popularité du groupe, Staley devient de plus en plus dépendant de l'héroïne, ce qui conduira à la suspension de plusieurs concerts par le groupe en 1994. Pendant ce temps, Staley rejoint le supergroupe Mad Season, composé de musiciens de Pearl Jam et de Screaming Trees. Le groupe sort un album studio, Above, conservant un climat grunge, rock alternatif et blues rock.
En avril 1995, le chanteur revient avec Alice in Chains pour enregistrer leur dernier album studio ensemble, Alice in Chains. Il enregistre avec le groupe un album live, Unplugged, sorti en 1996. Ensuite, il prend sa retraite, devenant solitaire et de plus en plus dépendant de la drogue.
Staley meurt le 5 avril 2002 à l'âge de 34 ans d'une overdose, causée par un mélange d'héroïne et de cocaïne communément appelé speedball.
Tiré de Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Aussi en English
Layne Thomas Staley (; born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American singer-songwriter. He was the original lead vocalist of Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part of Seattle's grunge movement. He was known for his distinctive vocal style as well as his harmonizing with bandmate Jerry Cantrell. Before his success with Alice in Chains, Staley was also a member of the glam metal bands Sleze and Alice N' Chains. He was also a part of the supergroups Mad Season and Class of '99.
"Man in the Box", the second single from Alice in Chains' debut album, Facelift (1990), garnered Staley critical recognition for his vocal style. Alice in Chains' EP Jar of Flies (1994), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it Alice in Chains' first record—and the first-ever EP—to top the chart. However, Staley's deteriorating condition due to heroin abuse led him to enter a rehabilitation clinic. He began to work on a side project with several Seattle musicians, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, and John Baker Saunders of the Walkabouts, which came to be Mad Season, while Alice in Chains went into hiatus.
During Alice in Chains' hiatus, reports of Staley's drug addiction began to gain widespread circulation in fan and media communities, in part due to changes in his physical condition brought on by prolonged heroin abuse. On April 10, 1996, the band returned with a performance on MTV Unplugged in New York; it was Alice in Chains' first concert in two-and-a-half years. The band performed three more shows, supporting Kiss on their reunion tour, with Staley's final live performance on July 3, 1996, in Kansas City, Missouri. Aside from recording two more songs with Alice in Chains – "Get Born Again" and "Died" – and a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" with Class of '99 during 1998, Staley was out of the public spotlight by the late 1990s.
Staley struggled with drug addiction and depression for much of his adult life; he later died from a speedball overdose on April 5, 2002, at the age of 34. He was ranked at No. 27 on Hit Parader's list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" in 2006, and at No. 42 on Complex magazine's list of "The 50 Best Lead Singers of All Time" in 2012. Seattle officially declared August 22, 2019, as "Layne Staley Day". Staley earned six Grammy Award nominations as a member of Alice in Chains.
Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
