Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

news

Alice In Chains - Speedball!
greed by Graham Reed May 9th, 2002
Alice In Chain’s singer Layne Staley, who was discovered dead on April 19th, died from a drug overdose after all, just as everyone suspected - so the death certificate says.

After all, this is the band whose breakthrough album 'Dirt' included such tracks as 'Godsmack' and 'Junkhead' – no hidden drug subtext there eh? – and a singer with a long and well-documented history of drug addiction. He was once quoted as saying - "[Drugs] worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me - and now I'm walking through hell.".

The cause of death, according to the death certificate was; "accidental" officially attributing the death to "acute intoxication of the combined effects of opiates (heroin) and cocaine." (known as a speedball, amongst drug users, the same combination also led to the death of John Belushi) The body was in a state of decomposition, with the date of death being estimated as April 5th: leaving the body two weeks to decompose before being found.

Alice in Chains last released a new studio album in 1995 – since then there’s been an unplugged album and a compilation and a retrospective box set released. Oddly For a band so revered, the most recent Alice in Chains Cd was never released in the UK.. Ironically, it was called "live".

*ahem*.



LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees

Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »




LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


GREATEST HITS

    news


    Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite - In Conversation (...

  • 101471
  • Interview


    LA-LDN Story: Laura Marling

  • 99465

    feature


    DiSband #3: The Horrors

  • 28770
  • Interview


    DiS Obituary #2: The Crimea "Stay away from dru...

  • 91975

    Interview


    DiS meets Sharon Van Etten: "It's the same pian...

  • 95341
  • feature


    Portishead discuss Third

  • 34958

    review


    The Postal Service - Give Up

  • 3980
  • feature


    LCD Soundsystem: doesn't listen to new music, c...

  • 59082
MORE
Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND