Late Alice in Chains Singer Layne Staley To Be Honored On Birthday Today
A memorial gathering in honor of late Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley’s birthday will be held this evening at the International Fountain in Seattle. Staley would’ve turned 44 today. The event also will celebrate the life of former AIC bassist Mike Starr, who died in March at the age of 44.
“Please come and gather to pay your respects and share your stories at the International Fountain on Layne’s 44th birthday, Monday August 22nd at 5PM,” reads a post on Layne-Staley.com. “This gathering will be held in honor of Layne Staley and also Mike Starr and we are truly thankful and excited to announce our special guests, Rane Stone and Jonny Smokes, two members from the renown local Alice in Chains tribute band, Jar of Flies!”
The body of Staley was discovered on April 19, 2002; the singer died at age 34 after injecting a mixture of heroin and cocaine known as a “speedball.” Coroners placed Staley’s death at April 5, eerily the same date that Kurt Cobain committed suicide eight years earlier in 1994.
Starr, who left AIC in 1993 while touring behind the band’s breakthrough ‘Dirt’ album, passed away March 8 of this year from a prescription drug overdose. He had recently appeared on the VH1 reality television series ‘Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.’