The album-opening Them Bones welcomes you with the screams of a man being burned alive, and it just gets more brutal from there. But just as Layne Staley is present any time someone plays an Alice In Chains songeven an Alice In Chains song that hes not actually singing onNowell is the living dead, his spirit regenerated both by music he played a conscious part in creating and those who emulate what he left behind. She attended at school in Arlington (Washington), and dropped at her . When Nowell finally pushed his luck with heroin too far in a San Francisco hotel room on May 25, 1996, his band wasnt yet famous enough to warrant much media attention for the tragedy. googletag.defineSlot('/98948493,22548962605/alternativenation_multisize_content_3', [[336,280],[300,250]], 'div-gpt-ad-3901802-5') I'm Melisa. Mark Lanegan and Mike Inez also went to Laynes home and bang on his door trying to see him. Remembering Demri : r/AliceInChains - Reddit "@id": "https://www.alternativenation.net/category/rock/", He didnt have a great voice, but he sang like he did, using the power of his personality to give his vocals the sunny brassiness that made Sublime songs so irresistible on the radio once 1996s Sublime brought the bands music to the masses. To anyone with a passing knowledge of Staleys life and music, his downfall played out like the worst kind of endingdistasteful, depressing, and all too predictable. Close to a dozen more stints in rehab were in his future. Layne Staley's Haunting Wedding That Never Was Will Break Your Heart .addService(googletag.pubads()); I had the chance to throw out all this anger by the music in order to help others. "I was trying to kick this habit out of my life, and here comes this man asking for money to buy some smack." The last public appearance he made was almost four years before his death when he attended his bandmate Jerry Cantrells solo concert in Seattle on Halloween in 1998. "position": 3, I didnt own the album because I didnt have to; if you spent time in a dorm in 1996 and 97, all you heard was Sublime, Odelay, and Dave Matthews Band. Layne was very into his artwork during his later years, frequently buying art supplies that were scattered around his home. googletag.defineSlot('/98948493,22548962605/alternativenation_multisize_top_1', [[300,250],[336,280],[728,90],[970,90],[970,250]], 'div-gpt-ad-3901802-1') }); During those years, Staley became a recluse and barely left his apartment. She was born Feb. 22, 1969, in Bremerton. Actually, the best of times was when everyone was just strung out on booze, coke and sex the basic musts on any rocker's CV. Dirt by Alice in Chains - Songfacts Staley sound-alikes became so common in the years after his public retreat and death that it was perhaps inevitable that one of them ended up replacing him in his own band. An updated version of The Book Of Rock Lists would probably be topped by Dimebag Darrell Abbott, the former Pantera guitarist who was gunned down onstage by a crazed fan during a performance with his band Damageplan on Dec. 8, 2004 at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. According to "sources close to the band," Staley lost his 27-year-old ex-girlfriend, Demri Parrott, to a heroin overdose later that same year. When [Dirt] came out, the thing did not leave my CD player, Godsmack singer Sully Erna told Cross in Rolling Stone. googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); Demri did not get Layne started in drugs his history was prior to her and tons of people know that.. 3. He'd been dead for weeks, still cradling a full syringe of heroin. .defineSizeMapping(mapping1) Alice in Chains was the first of grunge's big four to break out, but Nirvana clearly won the to-the-death competition. simplerGPT: true, apstag.fetchBids({ Despite his numerous attempts to get clean, Staleys body was discovered in his Seattle condo, with toxicology reports finding his death was the result of an accidental overdose. You dont get the same singular experience listening to Godsmack (which took its name from a Dirt track), Staind, or Creed, who adopted the superficialities of Alice In Chains sonic and thematic signposts and reconfigured them into interchangeably angsty and thuddingly poppy plop-metal. Part 7: 1996: Layne Staley and Bradley Nowell are the living dead Soon, even bands directly inspired by early-90s bands would conveniently set aside the feminist idealism those groups were known for in favor of an unapologetically assertive masculinity that was both reactionary to recent rock history and restorative of the old status quo. He was reporting on his own ongoing dissolution, giving the play-by-play on his soul being ripped away from him. It's known that Parrott was upset about the situation because Parrott herself was an aspiring model and actress. I did crack and heroin for years. They are not my friends.. "They asked if he believed in God? }); pubID: '434bb5e4-3704-4b75-b36c-785a444462bd', } "And now they're turning against me, and now I'm walking through hell, and this sucks. googletag.enableServices(); That charity fights heroin dependency in the Seattle area. At one point, Staley was even informed that his old man had passed away, although this wasn't true. Demri Parrott was famous for being the ex-fiancee of Alice in Chains frontman, Layne Staley. Staleys method of killing himself was slower and more painful, but ultimately no less effective. { Layne didnt get in, but sat in a chair sipping a beer. Her death also led to the end of Layne when he shut the world out and later died in 2002 at 34. Moreover, its been claimed that Layne Staley didnt want to live after losing a beloved even if their relationship ended. Then Kurt shot me, and then Layne shot me after that and I died, for like 11 minutes.". But his love of Tommy Lee wasn't the only reason he swapped out his middle name. For the bands cover design, Layne Staley provided the artwork, even painting his girlfriend Demri Parrott on the cover, when approaching the band with the design they quickly agreed with it. But soon he was caught in an inescapable trap that led to his premature death in 2002. Alice In Chains 2.0 became a band with two lead singers, with Cantrell frequently dueting with DuVall or taking lead vocals on his own. Revisit the final painful interview of Layne Staley - Far Out Magazine Money, status, nothing to me, Staley sings, though thats not completely trueits the money and status that allow him to live this way. I know who started it and they know too, but its funny I read stuff from people who make a statement as if they were there, knew her and it was fact and people believe them. Demri Lara Parrott (1969-1996) - Find a Grave Memorial Demri Parrott - Facts, Bio, Favorites, Info, Family | Sticky Facts He was also a serious heroin addict, a habit inspired in part by wanting to mimic his heroes. Sublime was a band for working-class people who could reconcile the casual bleakness of the lyrics of a song like Wrong Waya cheery ditty about an underage hookerwith the dance-happy music. Needless to say, we missed the game and kept pretty much everyone else from watching it as well., That day we were talking and he said he had gotten a call from the old Rage Against The Machine members and they were putting together a new project, and they wanted him to audition. 7/19/94. .defineSizeMapping(mapping2) He hadn't yet mastered singing high. For what it's worth, Demri's mother believes Staley, although he was clearly affected by his drug use. Layne and Demri. "He was sort of a classic destroyer of hotel rooms.". "I know I have no chance. Layne Staley | | The Guardian "@type": "WebPage", The Rarely Told Story of Alice in Chains' Layne Staley - Musicoholics Sublime proved to be an ideal band for a generation that approached rock music with an irreverent, hip-hop-inspired sensibility. Demri Parrott was an American artist who was born on February 22, 1969. Demri Parrott (born Demri Lara Murphy on February 22nd 1969 - d. October 29th 1996) was the love of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley's life.She was born in Bremerton, Seattle (WA) to Dennis Dougherty and Kathleen Austin, and had three brothers, Devin, Derek and David. Alternative Nation published a similar article in September 2014, but we are now publishing a new version with a couple of new stories. Im not doing well. Forrest had gained a reputation at the time as being someone who could communicate with addicts, he had helped Frusciante get clean in 1997. Layne was flipping through the channels and stumbled on the John Edward show Crossing Over, a show that TV Guide describes as: A psychic claims to communicate with his audiences late loved ones. "In 5thgrade, he [Staley] borrowed his Uncle Bob's trumpet, so that was his first instrument," said Nancy McCallum, Staley's mother, according to Northwest Music Scene. Self: 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. } To quote a Staind album title, the legacy of Dirt is colored by 14 shades of gray. By the time Staley actually was a star, he traded in the poufy-haired bravado of glam for the vein-popping gutter grime of Alice In Chains. He was 44 years old. I hadnt seen him in a couple of years and wasnt prepared for it. She then ignored directions from the officer on the scene to stay outside, entered the house, and sat next to her son's body. "position": 3, var googletag = googletag || {}; Most people who love Sublime today are fans of a band that Nowell hasnt been a living member of for 15 years. "When I haven't talked to anybody in years, and every article I see is dope this, junkie that, whiskey this that ain't my title My bad habits aren't my title. His comments given to Rubio show that Staley was aware that his mortality was on the horizon and had accepted his fate. } googletag.defineSlot('/98948493,22548962605/alternativenation_multisize_content_2', [[336,280],[300,250]], 'div-gpt-ad-3901802-4')