well been so many years music seems 2 b my life in evry possible way but one haunting voice is alwayz stuck in my head n its of "Layne Staley" of the band Alice In Chains
n guys trust me he has an amazin voice n he will alwayz b my inspiration tat i had through out my topsy turvey ride in my life which i had...

At the age of 12, Staley began playing drums and played in several glam bands in his early teens, but aspired to be a singer. He later traded in his drum set for a microphone. He met up with Jerry Cantrell in 1987, and joined Cantrell's band Diamond Lie. Eventually, the band renamed itself Alice in Chains. Originally a glam band, Alice in Chains shifted into marked metal influences, and was soon included as part of the burgeoning grunge movement.

Like several other musicians in the Seattle grunge scene, Staley experimented with heroin. By the 1990s, Staley was battling an addiction. The darker side of addiction had its influence on Staley's lyrics. The Alice in Chains album Dirt showed this preoccupation in songs like "Sickman" and "Dirt", while Cantrell's lyrics focused mainly on the thoughts of death. "Would?" in particular addresses the death of Andrew Wood, singer of Mother Love Bone, who died of a heroin overdose in 1990
Alice in Chains opted not to tour in support of their 1994 EP Jar of Flies. Following its release, Staley began to work on a side project with several Seattle musicians, including Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Mark Lanegan of the Screaming Trees. The band worked on material for several months, and eventually scheduled a show at the Crocodile Cafe under the name The Gacy Bunch. Within a few weeks, the band changed its name to Mad Season. In January of 1995, Mad Season performed two songs on Pearl Jam's Self Pollution Radio broadcast, "Lifeless Dead" and "I Don't Know Anything". The band completed an album, titled Above, which was released in March of 1995. The first single, "River of Deceit", became a modest success at alternative radio. A live performance filmed at the Moore Theater in Seattle was released in August of 1995.
During Alice in Chains' hiatus, rumors of Staley's heroin addiction began to spread. Alice in Chains regrouped to record a self-titled album, released late in 1995. To accompany the album, the band released a home video, The Nona Tapes, in which they poked fun at the rumors of Staley's addiction – several sources had announced his death during the hiatus, Charles Cross would later say that they had Staley's obituary on stand-by at The Rocket – but the band lapsed again, failing to complete tours planned in support of the album. After the death of his girlfriend, Demri Parrott in 1996 from bacterial endocarditis caused by drug use, Staley became more and more reclusive. Fans saw firsthand the effects of Staley's drug abuse during the band's Unplugged appearance. Staley was visibly weak and emaciated and had problems singing at times. His last performance was on 3 July 1996 in Kansas City, Missoui, while they were touring with KISS after their Unplugged appearance.
Staley remained out of the spotlight for the next several years. In 1998, Staley emerged as part of a supergroup called Class of '99, featuring members of Rage Against the Machine and Porno for Pyros. The group recorded parts one and two of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" for the soundtrack to the movie The Faculty, with a music video filmed for part two. While the other members of the group were filmed specifically for the video, Staley's appearance consisted of footage pulled from Mad Season's 1995 Moore Theater video.
In October of 1998, Staley emerged to help record two new tracks ("Get Born Again" and "Died") with Alice in Chains, which were released on the Music Bank box set in 1999. On July 19, 1999, syndicated radio program Rockline was hosting Cantrell, Inez, and (via telephone) Kinney for a discussion on the release of Nothing Safe: Best of the Box, when, unexpectedly, Staley called in to participate in the discussion.
At the beginning of 2002, Staley conducted an interview with author Adriana Rubio, in which Staley talked about the damage caused by his heroin addiction: "I'm not using drugs to get high like many people think. I know I made a big mistake when I started using this shit. It's a very difficult thing to explain. My liver is not functioning and I'm throwing up all the time and shitting my pants. The pain is more than you can handle. It's the worst pain in the world. Dope sick hurts the entire body."
On April 19, 2002, Staley was found dead in his home. His body was surrounded by various drug possessions and e\quipment. He was 34 years old. As he had apparently died two weeks earlier, Staley's body was not immediately identifiable, and a positive identification was not released until the next day. The autopsy report later concluded that Staley died after injecting a mixture of heroin and cocaine known as a "speedball". By coincidence, the coroner's office estimated that he died on April 5th, the same date that fellow Seattle Grunge rocker Kurt Cobain was estimated to have died eight years earlier.
Friend and bandmate Jerry Cantrell, who had tried to stay in touch with Staley and maintain their friendship, released the solo album Degradation Trip in June 2002 and dedicated the album to Staley's memory.
Several other musicians paid tribute to Staley in music. Aaron Lewis lead singer of Staind, penned a tribute to Staley titled "Layne" for Staind's 2003 album 14 Shades of Grey. Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam, also recorded a song eulogizing Staley, titled "4/20/02" (the day Vedder heard the news and subsequently wrote the song). The song featured only Vedder singing and playing the guitar in a ukulele\-inspired tuning, and was released as a hidden track on Pearl Jam's 2003 B-sides album Lost Dogs. Zakk Wylde also wrote a song about Layne Staley called "Layne" on the Black Label Society album, Hangover Music Vol. VI
Following Staley's death, Alice in Chains officially disbanded. For the next several years, the band refused to perform together out of respect for Staley. In 2005, the remaining members reunited for a benefit concert for victims of the December 26, 2004 tsunami, with several vocalists filling in for Staley. Following positive response, the band decided to reunite formally in 2006. In an interview with MTV News, Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney noted that the band would use the reunion concerts to pay tribute to the songs and to Staley. William Duvall, a member of Cantrell's solo touring band (who often sang Staley's parts on the Alice in Chains songs that Cantrell performed), was announced as Staley's replacement for the reunion shows.
In the same interview, Kinney noted the reunion didn't necessarily foretell a future for Alice in Chains. "If we found some other dude, I'd love to move on, write some cool tunes and change the name and go on like that. I don't see continuing as Alice and replacing somebody. ... We're not trying to replace Layne. We want to play these songs one more time, and if it seems like the right thing to do, it'll happen. I don't know how long it will go or where it will take us. It's kind of a tribute to Layne and our fans, the people who love these songs."

well this is jus a wite up abt AIC in wikipedia but guyz u should listen 2 his songs man man amazin voice n amazin lyrics n he is a singer of his par man he used 2 write songs about his sufferings cos of drugs n not encouragin ppl 2 do drugs

it is true wat layne said "I AM LAYNE STALEY AND I SING LIKE A LARK"

guyz jus listen 2 would , man in the box n more of his songs then u will know how he sings
man "Chris Cornell" of audioslave tried copying his style in his early dayz n he ripped his vocal chords n was at rest for over 4 years man
well i would jus request u guyz 2 listen 2 him cos his words kindle u from the inside
n his song called "nutshell" man the words r my life in a poetry , well i would not like 2 boer u guyz more so will quit wit th elyrics of the song called "nutshell"
we chase misprinted lies,
we face the path of time,
and yet i fight,
yet i fight,
this battle all alone,
no one to cry to,
no place to call home.....
..........................
my gift of self is raped,
my privacy is raked,
and yet i find,
yet i find,
repeatin in my head,
if i cant be my own,
i'd feel better dead.....

lyrics n vocals ...Layne Staley

LAYNE THOMAS STALEY

1967-2002

R.I.P. LAYNE U WILL ALWAYZ BE IN OUR HEARTS