Layne Thomas Staley (Vocals/Guitar) stood 5'11" and was born in Kirkland, Washington on August 22, 1967. At the age of seven his parents divorced. He started playing drums at the age of 12 and played in different glam bands. Since he always sang when he played someone suggested he should start singing instead.

So he did. He met Jerry Cantrell at a party in 1987. Jerry who already knew Mike Starr, decided to form a band with Staley, and Mike introduced them to Sean, who was dating Starr's sister.

Layne is generally considered to be the gloomy, moody member of the group. The rest of the band disagree.

With friends Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees) and Baker Saunders, Layne formed "Mad Season" in 1994. Their only release is an album called "Above".

Layne was also an artist, samples of his artwork can be found in the sleeves of "Dirt" and "Above."

Layne was found dead in his Washington home on April 20, 2002, from an apparent accidental drug overdose.

Gear:
Guitars: Gibson SG
Vocal FX: Jimmy Hendrix Fuzz Face, Wah Pedal, Delay

Some pictures of Layne.

Quotes:

• "When I tried drugs they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me- and now I'm walking through hell and this sucks. I didn't want my fans to think heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen."
  
• "When somebody starts asking me if I'm an addict of how messed up I am or just stupid and stuff like that, it's like man do you have a brain at all? Aside from a brain, do you have any feelings at all? What if I started asking these questions? This is really personal stuff!"
  
• "I made a stupid decision and now I'm paying for it. My bed isn't made, I'm tired, I haven't slept well for two weeks. I haven't been laid in a month. I don't have a girlfriend. And I have a warrant for my arrest. Being me is no different than being most anyone, I guess."
  
• "I found out through the Internet that I have AIDS. I learned that I was dead. Where else would I find these things? I don't see a doctor regularly. I was in San Francisco at Lollapalooza, and this girl walked up to me and stopped like she had seen a ghost. And she said "You're not dead." and I said, "No, you're right." Wow."
  
• "I see a lot of you are dressed up like some of the members of Kiss, but none of you are dressed up like me. What's up with that?" (opening for Kiss in 1995)
  
• "People have the right to ask questions and dig deep when you're hurting people and things around you, but when I haven't talked to anyone in years, and every single article I see is dope this, junkie that, whiskey this- that ain't my title...my bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and talents are my title."
  
• "We try to be real nice and friendly to people, but sometimes they take advantage of that."
  
• "What do you mean? I'm a wild frontman! I'm jumping all over, I do the dance moves..."
  
• "My mother hated it when she first heard it: 'Oh Layne, can't you call it something else, that's just terrible. That's demeaning to women'. 'Aw mom, it's just a name.' " (about "Facelift")
  
• "It's just writing about things, feelings, not that we're dark or depressed...just as much as anyone else is."
  
• "We write about ourselves because we know about ourselves."
  
• "Our perception of songs that we've written...the meaning changes from day to day...to whatever stage we're at in our life and careers"
  
• "The songs are about things that we were thinking and we wrote 'em down, and when you listen to 'em, whatever you think it's about...THAT'S what it's about!"
  
• "We Die Young is about gang violence. That was something that was happening in Seattle, something that kinda opened our eyes. It just seemed like things were getting out of hand. Incidents where kids were getting shot, and getting their tennis shoes ripped off their dead bodies. It just seems like these kids are dying at younger and younger ages and getting involved in gang activity."
  
• "[Man In The Box] is kind of loosely based on media censorship. It's only my theory, so it's not a fact or a statement."
  
• "Everyone in the band listens to different things. We're influenced by different bands...so all that comes together."
  
• "We were on tour and the songs on Sap were songs that we had written...and Sean, during the process of working on these songs, had a dream that we had recorded these songs. And since they were a little bit milder than the rest of our material, in his dream the record was called "Sap," because it was sappy."
  
• "Nobody ever asks Meat Loaf, 'What do you eat? Why do you eat so much? Shouldn't you lose some weight?' No, he shouldn't. He's fucking Meat Loaf. He writes songs, and he has a great time, and none of your fuckin' business. Maybe he eats meatloaf every fucking night, you know?"
  
• "There's no huge, deep message in any of the songs. It was just what was going on in my head right then. We had good times, and we had bad times. We recorded a few months of being human."
  
• "This is about a girl who makes me feel all fluffy inside. . .fucking bitch!" (on the song Love, Hate, Love)
  
• "I'm Layne Staley and I sing like a lark. . .I'm Layne Staley and I sing like a lark."
  
• "We survived a Slayer crowd every night for about fifty days and I thought we could do anything after that."
  
• "I used to walk six miles barefoot in the snow, to school. Did you know that (someone in the crowd yells out 'uphill !')? Uphill. Good answer!"
  
• "I've looked for the perfect life to step into. I've done all the work, taken all the paths to get where I wanted. But no matter how far I go, I always come home to me. At home, I'm just Layne, a guy that has interests that extend far beyond music. Music is the career I'm lucky enough to get paid for, but I have other desires and passions."
  
• "I'm dumbfounded by me all the time. Wow! What a. . . thrill. . .and a joy."
  
• "Wrong Batman!"
  
• "God damn, son of a gun, get me a cheeseburger!"
  
• "Who the fuck is Alice?"
  
• "I hope more than a handful of you would like to buy me a beer afterwards."
  
• "Drugs are not the way to the light. They won't lead to a fairy-tale life, they lead to suffering."
  
• "They're all getting a great view of our backsides."
  
• "I wish I could just hug you all, but I'm not gonna"
  
• "Yep, I was getting to that, yeah. Dang it, I am... I think I'm gonna cry!" (when asked "Are you happy?")
  
• "Everybody expects us to run around in black, but we're like the monkees...."
  
• This isn't a dig on women, but I think women are so different chemically from men, and that makes it hard to sustain a relationship. They have periods, they go through horrible, awfull emotional swings, and trying to be logical with a person that's got a whole different logic running around in her brain is just impossible.
• There was a time when things seemed desperate, and I thought taking my life might be a way out. I made a couple of really weak attempts, mostly to see if I could do it, and I couldn't.
• After I got my first gold record, my friend came over and pulled out a couple of lines of blow, and I pulled it off the wall, because that was a dream of mine. If I ever got a gold record, I was going to do my first line of coke on that. I had a great time riding around in limos and eating lobster and getting laid...I had a great time, but I cant physically or mentally live that lifestyle constantly.
• I'm not into religion, but I have a good grasp on my spirituality. I just believe that I'm not the greatest power on this earth. I didnt create myself, because I would have done a hell of a better job.
• "We're Alice in Chains and this is my broke foot...thank God it ain't a broke dick"