20 years ago today, we lost a legendary artist. On April 5th, 2002, Layne Staley passed away at the age of 34. It was reported that he overdosed on a combination of heroin and cocaine, after years of struggling with addiction and depression. Oddly, this happened exactly 8 years to the day, after the passing of his friend Kurt Cobain.

He was well known as the frontman of Alice in Chains.

After he passed away, his parents founded the Layne Staley Memorial Fund which is an organization that helps other heroin addicts in the Seattle area.

Since then, the world has continued to remember him and his music. In 2019, Seattle celebrated their first-ever Layne Staley Day.

Many rockers have acknowleged Staley’s talent, for example Ozzy Osbourne who named Alice In Chains’ Facelift as one of his top ten albums of all time. He told Rolling Stone that it was an “amazing debut”, and that “‘Man in the Box’ is a classic. Layne Staley was a lovely guy. It’s such a shame that he couldn’t overcome his demons.”

Alice in Chains has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Staley has often been refered to as one of the most memorable voices in grunge.