Photo: Rex Aran Emrick / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Layne Staley had one of those voices that stops you cold the first time you hear it — a raw, aching baritone that could slide from a whisper into a gut-punch wail without losing an ounce of control. As the lead vocalist of Alice in Chains, he was the emotional center of Seattle's grunge movement in a way that felt almost uncomfortably honest, like he was singing things people weren't supposed to say out loud. The harmonies he and Jerry Cantrell built together were genuinely unlike anything else coming out of the early '90s — dense, slightly dissonant, and hauntingly beautiful. He was also a songwriter and guitarist, not just a frontman, which made his contributions run deeper than the spotlight suggested. He passed away in April 2002 at just 34, and the music world has never quite filled that space he left behind.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Layne Staley
- Name (Japanese)
- レイン・ステイリー
- Reading
- れいん・すていりー
- Born
- August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Leo / Goat
- Origin
- Bellevue, Washington, United States
- Occupation
- singer / songwriter / composer / guitarist
2. Background
- High school
- Meadowdale High School
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Layne Staley born?
August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002.
Where is Layne Staley from?
Layne Staley is from Bellevue, Washington, United States.
What does Layne Staley do?
Layne Staley works as singer, songwriter, composer, guitarist.
Singer — see all → · Songwriter — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.