Alice in Chains

Genres:	Heavy Metal • Pop / Rock
Descriptive "tags":	grunge • rock • alternative rock • hard rock • alternative
Decades Active:	1990s • 2000s
Links online:	BBC Music • Discography • Discography • Discography • Discography • IMDb • MusicMoz • MySpace • Official Homepage • Wikipedia

Biography

Formed in 1987 in Seattle, Washington, USA, by Layne Staley (22 August 1967, Kirkland, Washington, USA, d. April 2002, Seattle, Washington, USA; vocals) and Jerry Cantrell (b. 18 March 1966, Tacoma, Washington, USA; vocals, guitar) with Mike Starr (bass) and Sean Kinney (b. 27 June 1966, Seattle, Washington, USA; drums), Alice In Chains developed a sound that mixed Black Sabbath -style riffing with Staley and Cantrell’s unconventional vocal arrangements and strong songwriting. Cantrell had drifted from his home in Tacoma to Seattle, homing in on a musician’s collective entitled the Music Bank. He brought in the rhythm section of Kinney and Starr, before Staley was recruited from a local funk metal act. After dispensing with their early moniker, ‘Fuck’, they became Alice In Chains, a name invented by Staley for ‘a parody heavy metal band that dressed in drag’.

The band won a major recording contract despite some...

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