In a time of hair bands such as Motley Crue, the decline of Rock and Roll was ready to end. Rock had gone from bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Santana and Jimmy Hedrix to Motley Crue, Poison, and the Scorpions. One band copying another, and worrying about what type of hairspray they had. In the heat of all this lousy music there was a grunge scene growing in Seattle, Washington. Bands from all over went to Seattle to cut record deals and become true bands. One of these bands was Alice in Chains.
Alice in Chains was first formed in Seattle in 1987, Jerry Cantrell (Guitar and Vocals) had been in a lot of small bands around Seattle. He had gotten to know Mike Starr (Original bassist of Alice in Chains) who introduced him to Sean Kinney (Drums) who was at the time dating Starr’s sister. At a party one night Jerry met Layne Staley (Singer, Drummer) who was currently in his own band. The four of them got to talking and decided to start their own band. Alice N’ Chains was born.
On August 5th, 1987, they played their first gig. After that they changed their name to Diamond Lie, and then to Alice in Chains. On February 11th 1989, Alice in Chains played their first major show with a big band in Seattle called Mother Love Bone. After the show they were persued by many record labels, they chose Columbia.
In June of 1990 they released the first album (EP) called “We Die Young”. The song “We Die Young” off the EP became popular, putting them in the top five of the heavy metal tracks. Two months later the band released Facelift that includes the three songs from “We Die Young” and nine others. In September of ’90 Alice in Chains started their first tour in Westminister, California. In November of 1990 the band toured with Iggy Pop, they play new songs like Dirt and Rooster for a group of fans that could care less.
In December 22nd they played a sold out show at the Moore theater in Seattle. The concert was filmed by John Taft and released as the videotape “Facelift: LIVE”. In 1991 the band released its first single off of Facelift called “Man in the Box”, the single got heavy MTV and radio play and made a 26 week climb into the MTV top 20. This led them to later release the single “Sea of Sorrow”. Later that month Alice in Chains was nominated for an American Music Award for “Favorite Heavy Metal Artist”, they lost.
In September of 1991, on a one month break from the “Clash of the Titans” tour with Megadeth, Alice in Chains recorded Sap, their second EP. Sap contained the hit “Got Me Wrong” which also appeared on the “Clerks” soundtrack. On November 31, Jerry went on a hunting trip believing November has 31 days, he missed a tour date with Van Halen on December 31st. Columbia bought him a calendar for Christmas. At the same time Alice in Chains was voted “Best New Band” by RIP magazine and “Guitar for the Practicing musician.
In April of 1992, the band started recording their second full-length album, titled Dirt in LA with Dave Jerden and Alice in Chains co-produced. The album was released in September and went on to sell more than 3 million copies. Alice in Chains’ first single off the album was "Would", which also appeared on the "Singles" soundtrack. The song became an instant hit and wins "Best song from a movie" in the MTV Music Video Movie Awards. The band later released singles for "Angry Chair", "Them Bones", "Down In a Hole", and "Rooster" (which was snubbed by MTV, because of realistic Vietnam scenes), in which his father, Jerry Cantrell Sr., appeared. Dirt went on to win SPIN's "Album of the Year". While recording, Sean decided to redecorate his apartment by throwing his coffee table out the window! In Sept. 92, Layne managed to run himself over with his 4-wheel ATW, breaking his foot, but not his spirit. Layne finished the Ozzy tour in a wheelchair and on crutches, never missing a date.
In January of 1993, AIC played at the Hollywood Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was Mike Starr's last concert. Mike becomes tired or touring and left the band. He later joined the band Sun Red Sun. Mike Inez, who had played for Ozzy, finished their European club tour with them and later became a permanent member of the band, earning the name "the new guy".
In the summer of 93, Alice in Chains headlined Lollapalooza. The band performs with other bands such as Primus, Fishbone, TOOL, Arrested Development, Rage Against the Machine, and more. The ever-changing Layne shaves his head to a buzz, and decided to wear tailored suits during the tour.
When Lollapalooza was over, Alice in Chains returned back home, only to be evicted from their residence. Layne thought Jerry would pay the rent, Jerry thought Sean would, Sean thought Mike would, etc. Instead they move into London Bridge Studio, bored and depressed, they decided to record the EP Jar of Flies in a 7-day period. Inspired by SAP, they decide to make it a double CD with the SAP (which went gold). The band rushed to release the album after rumors of STP coming out with an acoustic EP themselves. The band names the EP after a science project Jerry performed when he was in high school.
After this, the band began a six-week tour called "Down In Your Hole". The video "Down In a Hole" was shot. After that "Them Bones" was released in September. On January 18th, 1994, Jar of Flies is released, becoming the first EP ever to debut at number 1 on the Billboard charts. The first single released was "No Excuses" in February. The video got a good amount of MTV airplay and heavy radio airplay. They later released the imaginable video for "I Stay Away". Jar of Flies goes on to sell more than 2 million copies, becoming double platinum.
In April 1995, Alice in Chains entered the studio to record their third full-length album. The album was originally called "Tripod" after a 3-legged dog that used to chase Sean as a child and 3rd full-length album. Alice in Chains knows better than to listen to Sean, and self-titles it Alice in Chains. This album took 4 months to make. Finally, it was released November 25th, 1995 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts. The album went on to sell 2 million copies, becoming double platinum. The first single was for "Grind". The eerie video made it to #3 on the Top 20 Countdown. Sean and Jerry went to Australia to promote the new release. Soon enough, Alice in Chains was nominated for a Grammy for the song "Grind". Continuing their award losing tradition, Alice in Chains lost, to Pearl Jam's "Spin the Black Circle". Mike Mcready of Pearl Jam was on stage accepting the award noted them as "The Mighty Alice in Chains". Bored from not being on the road, Mike Inez toured with Ozzy.
Alice in Chains were seen very little live. In April, Alice in Chains performed "God Am" on Saturday Night Special. They appeared on Letterman performing "Again" and "We Die Young". Later that month, Alice in Chains went on to play on MTV’s Unplugged. The show aired May 22nd. When news got out that STP will not open for KISS, Alice in Chains jumped at the chance to play with their childhood idols. They opened for 4 shows in Kansas City, Detroit, Louisville, and St. Louis. On July 28th, Alice in Chains released the album Unplugged. The album debuted at #3 and in its first month went platinum. It is now certified double platinum on its way to triple.
The current situation with Alice in Chains is uncertain, Layne’s heroin addiction still plagues him to this day. Jerry has gone solo with Sean Kinney as his drummer. And Mike Inez was just currently playing Bass on the Ozzfest tour. A box set entitled Men in the Box is due out in 1999.