Musicians Talking About Layne Staley
You’ve seen our video compilation of Musicians Talking About Kurt Cobain, so let’s continue our celebration of the 30th anniversary of grunge with Musicians Talking About Layne Staley.
One of Layne’s Alice in Chains bandmates had some beautiful words to share about the late singer. “The first time I heard that guy, I was in love with him,” Jerry Cantrell says. “Being around him inspired me to be a better singer, to work on that more. He gave me a lot more confidence. In the later records, he was like, ‘Man, they’re your songs. You sing them.’ He pushed me to step up.”
Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell once shared a dream he had of Layne during an interview. Though he didn’t take it as a definite sign, the dream made Cornell hope Staley was in a good place. “Is that a projection? Is that what I want to see? Or is that what’s really going on?” Cornell questioned. “I’ve had that experience a lot. I always sort of wake up with the feeling that somehow that’s an indication that they are somewhere good.”
Staley’s bandmate in Mad Season, Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin, shared some more personal info about Layne and the love he had for fans. “There were always kids out front that wanted to get in [to Mad Season shows] and Layne would give his guest list to kids who couldn’t get in,” Martin recalls. “Those were his guests — the kids on the street trying to get a ticket.”
Check out these Musicians Talking About Layne Staley in the Loud List below.