Layne Staley (Alice in Chains)
The vocal embodiment of the doom and gloom associated with the Seattle sound is the haunting voice of singer Layne Staley. Staley’s tenor voice evokes plenty of feeling in each performance. The feelings linger with you long after the song is over. While Staley’s impact lay largely within his vocals for Alice in Chains, his original passion was for percussion (Staley began his career as a drummer). In his last known interview, Staley eerily foreshadowed his own death admitting his years of drug abuse was bringing his time to a nearing end. On April 5, 2002 — the 8th anniversary of grunge singer Kurt Cobain’s death — Staley died of an overdose at the age of 34.