A second EP, ''Sap,'' was released in 1991, followed in 1992 by ''Dirt,'' which has sold four million copies.
ALICE IN CHAINS GREATEST HITS ALBU COVER MOVIE
The group appeared as a bar band in the Cameron Crowe movie ''Singles,'' and toured nationally as ''Facelift'' went on to sell two million copies. The group quickly turned from playing glam-metal to an early variety of grunge, and in 1989, it was signed to Columbia Records, which released the EP ''We Die Young'' and the band's first album, ''Facelift,'' in 1990. Cantrell at a party, and formed Alice in Chains with him in 1987. A few years later, he decided to become a singer instead, and traded his drum kit for a microphone. Staley was born in Kirkland, Wash., and started playing drums when he was 12 years old, inspired by a Black Sabbath album from his parents' record collection. There were no signs of foul play, according to our investigators.'' Fish said, ''We have determined it was either drug use or natural causes. The King County medical examiner has not determined the cause of death, but said yesterday that Mr. Fish said, including heroin needles and other paraphernalia. Staley was found dead on a couch with ''obvious signs of drug use,'' Mr. Staley, officers forcibly entered his apartment near the University of Washington campus after there was no answer to a knock on the door. Staley sang directly about heroin addiction in songs like ''God Smack'' and ''Junkman,'' with its chorus, ''What's my drug of choice/Well, what have you got?''ĭuane Fish, a spokesman for the Seattle Police Department, said that when the police were called on Friday to check on Mr. On the band's second album, ''Dirt'' in 1992, Mr. Staley wrote lyrics for many of its songs, including the band's first hit, ''Man in the Box,'' with the chorus: ''Feed my eyes, can you sew them shut?/Jesus Christ, deny your maker.'' Most of the band's material was written by its guitarist, Jerry Cantrell, though Mr. Beginning with its 1990 EP, ''We Die Young,'' the group sang bleak visions of death, addiction and despair, set to grinding minor-key guitar riffs. He was 34 years old.Īlice in Chains was one of the first grunge bands to gain national attention. Layne Staley, the lead singer of the pioneering grunge band Alice in Chains, was found dead on Friday at his home in Seattle.