Struggle With Addiction Infused Staley’s Music

Charles R. Cross, author of ‘Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain,’ and former editor of The Rocket gave his account of the life of Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley following news of his death over the weekend. Cross writes, “What most didn’t know was that Staley had gone through rehab on numerous occasions and that those close to him had been deeply concerned for some time. He was unsuccessful at staying sober for long, and friends say the death of his fiancée in the early ’90s, also from drug abuse, sent Staley into a spiral from which he did not recover.”