Alice in Chains

by David de Sola

    2. Russell requested and was granted anonymity out of concern that any of the information attributed to him might complicate his application for a visa if he should ever have to travel to the United States again. Some biographical information, such as his nationality and the name of his band, has been withheld to protect his identity.

    3. Wiederhorn, “Famous Last Words.”

    4. King County Medical Examiner’s record, October 29, 1996, obtained by the author through a public records request; Demri Parrott death certificate, November 4, 1996, obtained by the author through a public records request. Demri’s death certificate misspells “meprobamate” as “meptobamate.”

    5. Regarding Susan saying this was one of the last times she saw Layne, see Greg Prato, Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music (Toronto: ECW Press, 2009), 416.

  CHAPTER 23

  Sources for this chapter include author interviews with Krisha Augerot, Johnny Bacolas, Kim De Baere, Dan Gallagher, Henrietta Saunders, Joseph H. Saunders, and Evan Sheeley.

    1. Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge (New York: Crown Archetype, 2011), 487.

    2. Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town, 487.

    3. Barrett Martin, Above reissue liner notes; Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town, 487.

    4. King County Medical Examiner’s record, January 15, 1999, obtained by the author through public records.

    5. Martin, Above reissue liner notes; Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town, 487.

    6. Mike McCready, “Mike McCready Remembers Seattle Bassist John Baker Saunders, 1954–1999,” The Rocket, January 27, 1999.

  CHAPTER 24

  Sources for this chapter include author interviews with Johnny Bacolas, James Bergstrom, Randy Biro, Jason Buttino, Bryan Carlstrom, Annette Cisneros, Jamie Elmer, Jim Elmer, Ken Elmer, Dave Jerden, Matt Serletic, Jimmy Shoaf, Elan Trujillo, and Toby Wright.

    1. King County assessor records, accessed online by the author. Author review of Alice in Chains album liner notes. Articles, court cases, addresses, and various legal and public-records information accessed on the Nexis database by the author.

    2. Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney, interview, Faceculture.tv, 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QohpVPsELRA.

    3. Author review of recordings of “The Things You Do,” by the Despisely Brothers. The recordings, which are not publicly available, were made available to the author by Jason Buttino.

    4. Patrick MacDonald, “Soundgarden’s History: One of Seattle’s First and Loudest Grunge Bands Calls It Quits After 12 Years of Setting the Pace for Alternative Rock,” Seattle Times, April 10, 1997; Greg Prato, Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music (Toronto: ECW Press, 2009), 427–36; Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge (New York: Crown Archetype, 2011), 515–21. It should also be noted that, after a twelve-year split, Soundgarden reunited in 2010.

    5. Patrick MacDonald, “Internet Dominates Talk at Music Conference,” Seattle Times, October 20, 1997.

    6. Lip Service, The Rocket, November 5–19, 1997.

    7. Charles R. Cross, “The Last Days of Layne Staley,” Rolling Stone, June 1, 2002.

    8. Marc Weingarten, “Unchained,” Guitar World, June 1998, http://web.archive.org/web/20090731074835/http://w1.881.telia.com/~u88102099/Depot/articles/guitarworld_6.html; http://www.guitarworld.com/archive-jerry-cantrell-his-first-solo-album-and-state-alice-chains.

    9. Gene Stout, “Cantrell Seeks Out a Solo Identity on First Tour Away from Alice,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 30, 1998; Rocky Schenck, “AIC Memories.”

  10. Rex Brown, with Mark Eglinton, Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera (Boston: Da Capo Press, 2013), 156–57.

  11. MTV News, “Cantrell Solo Nixed for October,” September 15, 1997, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1424862/cantrell-solo-nixed-october.jhtml.

  12. Troy Carpenter, “News on Jerry Cantrell, Richard Ashcroft, Waylon Jennings,” Billboard, 2002, http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/76876/billboard-bits-cantrell-ashcroft-jennings.

  13. Weingarten, “Unchained.”

  14. Schenck, “AIC Memories.”

  15. For the lineup of Jerry’s touring band in the summer and fall of 1998, see MTV News, “Jerry Cantrell Sets Headlining Tour,” September 18, 1998, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1424857/jerry-cantrell-sets-headlining-tour.jhtml. For Jerry’s tour dates opening for Metallica, see MTV News, “Jerry Cantrell Takes ‘Boggy Depot’ Online,” March 30, 1998, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1424858/jerry-cantrell-takes-boggy-depot-online.jhtml.

  16. Jerry Cantrell MTV online chat, July 22, 1998, http://archive.today/7CPBH. A live bootleg video of the cover can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skHETecWxO4.

  17. The description of Layne’s physical appearance is based on an author review of photographs taken during the Music Bank recording session by Annette Cisneros.

  18. Blair R. Fischer, “Malice in Chains?” Rolling Stone, September 4, 1998, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/malice-in-chains-19980904.

  19. Prato, Grunge Is Dead, 416.

  20. Tom Morello, Twitter, May 25, 2013, https://twitter.com/tmorello/status/338497113958805504; Prato, Grunge Is Dead, 416; Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town, 534.

  21. For the dates and venues of Jerry’s headlining tour in October 1998, see MTV News, “Jerry Cantrell Sets Headlining Tour.”

  22. Author review of photograph of Layne Staley and Jimmy Shoaf taken backstage at the Showbox on October 31, 1998, as first published on Alternative Nation, http://www.alternativenation.net/?p=10483. Shoaf verified the authenticity of the photo.

  23. Johnny Bacolas, e-mail to the author, dated December 5, 2013. The Mike Starr quote comes from Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town, 174. A photo of Layne and Mike performing in drag can be seen at http://grungebook.tumblr.com/post/11443878907/mike-starr-on-diamond-lie-becoming-alice-in-chains.

  24. Alice in Chains, interview, Rockline, July 19, 1999, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkz21GO4ASA&list=PL764A777926D8EF70.

  25. Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson, with Charles R. Cross, Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: It Books, 2012), 210–11.

  26. Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town, 535; Kara Manning, “Chris Cornell Feels ‘Euphoria’ with Newborn Daughter,” MTV News, July 6, 2000, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427500/chris-cornell-feels-euphoria-with-newborn-daughter.jhtml.

  27. Bob Gulla, “Into the Flood Again,” Guitar One, June 2001; Jerry Cantrell, biography for Roadrunner Records, http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/JerryCantrell/.

  28. Don Kaye, “A Long, Strange Trip,” Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 liner notes.

  29. Gulla, “Into the Flood Again.”

  30. Kaye, “A Long, Strange Trip”; Gulla, “Into the Flood Again”; Gene Stout, “Making Music Sees Cantrell Through Death and Dark Times,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 16, 2002, http://www.seattlepi.com/ae/music/article/Making-music-sees-Cantrell-through-death-and-dark-1087394.php.

  31. Tom Hansen, American Junkie (New York: Emergency Press, 2010), 245–48. Hansen declined to be interviewed for this book.

  32. Prato, Grunge Is Dead, 417; Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town, 535.

  33. Bob Forrest, with Michael Albo, Running with Monsters: A Memoir (New York: Crown Archetype, 2013), 213–16.

  CHAPTER 25

  Sources for this chapter include author interviews with Kathleen Austin, Jason Buttino, Jamie Elmer, Jim Elmer, Ken Elmer, Morgen Gallagher, Jeff Gilbert, Mike Korjenek, Phil Lipscomb, Nick Pollock, Stephen Richards, and Toby Wright.

    1. Adriana Rubio, Layne Staley: Get Born Again (Evansdale, Iowa: ARTS Publications, 2006), xii.

    2. Ibid., xii–xvi.

    3. Charles R. Cross, “The Last Days of Layne Staley,” Rolling Sto
ne, June 1, 2002.

    4. Tom Scanlon, “Alice in Chains Singer’s Legacy Lives on Through Music,” Seattle Times, August 24, 2007, http://seattletimes.com/html/musicnightlife/2003850521_staley24.html; Greg Prato, Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music (Toronto: ECW Press, 2009), 423.

    5. The information about Layne having seen Demri the night before was given to Kathleen Austin by Mike Starr after Layne’s private memorial service.

    6. VH1, Celebrity Rehab, episode 307.

    7. Jon Wiederhorn, “Alice in Chains: To Hell and Back,” Rolling Stone, February 8, 1996, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/alice-in-chains-to-hell-and-back-rolling-stones-1996-feature-20110405.

  CHAPTER 26

  Sources for this chapter include author interviews with Kathleen Austin and Jim Elmer.

    1. Greg Prato, Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music (Toronto: ECW Press, 2009), 415.

    2. Charles R. Cross, “The Last Days of Layne Staley,” Rolling Stone, June 1, 2002.

    3. Prato, Grunge Is Dead, 421.

    4. Seattle Police Department computer-aided dispatch (CAD) record, April 19, 2002, obtained by the author through a public records request.

    5. Ibid.; Seattle Police Department incident report, April 19, 2002, published by The Smoking Gun, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/alice-chains-singers-death.

    6. Seattle Police Department incident report; King County Medical Examiner’s record, April 19, 2002, obtained by the author through a public records request; Rick Anderson, “Smack Is Back,” Seattle Weekly, October 9, 2006, http://www.seattleweekly.com/2003-01-08/news/smack-is-back/. Layne Staley death certificate, April 20, 2002, obtained by the author through a public records request.

    7. Anderson, “Smack Is Back.”

    8. King County Medical Examiner’s record, April 19, 2002.

    9. On Sadie’s being adopted by Jerry, see the Jerry Cantrell feature on MTV Cribs, circa 2002–2003, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDQCZ14f0Rs. Regarding Sadie’s death, see http://www.layne-staley.com/?page_id=753.

  10. VH1, Celebrity Rehab, episode 307, “Family Weekend,” February 19, 2010.

  CHAPTER 27

  Sources for this chapter include author interviews with Kathleen Austin, Johnny Bacolas, James Bergstrom, Randy Biro, Chrissy Chacos, Jamie Elmer, Jim Elmer, Ken Elmer, Jeff Gilbert, Randy Hauser, Ron Holt, Dave Jerden, Nick Pollock, and Toby Wright.

    1. Charles R. Cross, “Last Days of Layne Staley,” Rolling Stone, June 1, 2002.

    2. Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge (New York: Crown Archetype, 2011), 538.

    3. E-mail from Taproot’s bassist, Phil Lipscomb, to the author, April 7, 2014.

    4. Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam Twenty (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 282.

    5. Gene Stout, “Fans Mourn Death of Alice in Chains Singer,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 19, 2002, http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Fans-mourn-death-of-Alice-in-Chains-singer-1085691.php.

    6. The complete statement on the old and now-defunct Alice in Chains Web site can be found at http://web.archive.org/web/20020522235447/http://www.aliceinchains.net/.

    7. Candice Heckman, “In Seattle Gloom, Fans Honor Staley,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 26, 2002, http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/In-Seattle-gloom-fans-honor-Staley-1086186.php; Jennifer Vineyard, “Layne Staley Memorialized at Second Candlelight Vigil,” MTV News, April 29, 2002, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1453662/staley-memorialized-at-seattle-vigil.jhtml.

    8. For the date of the memorial service, see a copy of the program uploaded at http://www.layne-staley.com/?page_id=753.

    9. Barrett Martin, “Memoriam for Layne Staley,” April 28, 2002. The complete text can be found on the program for the memorial service at http://www.layne-staley.com/?page_id=753.

  10. On the performance of “Sand” at Layne Staley’s memorial service, see the exchange between Mike Inez and Nancy Wilson on VH1’s Decades Rock Live! at the 0:26 mark in this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_HJV1BuQEE. For the story behind “Sand,” see video of Q&A with Ann and Nancy Wilson at EMP from October 8, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5uJv34GBEU.

  CHAPTER 28

  Sources for this chapter include author interviews with Steve Alley, Randy Biro, Jason Buttino, Bryan Carlstrom, Evan Sheeley, and Aaron Woodruff.

    1. On Ray Gillen’s background and the Sun Red Sun project, see http://www.artistswithaids.org/artforms/music/catalogue/gillen.html.

    2. Andy Greene, “Alice in Chains Bassist Mike Starr Dies at 44,” Rolling Stone, March 9, 2011. Information about the charges and the jail sentence are from records from the Office of the Harris County District Clerk and the Houston Police Department, obtained by the author through public records requests.

    3. John Brandon, Unchained: The Story of Mike Starr and His Rise and Fall in Alice in Chains (Evansdale, Iowa: Xanadu Enterprises, 2001), vii–x, 1–5, 107; Demri Parrott death certificate, obtained by the author through a public records request.

    4. Salt Lake City Police Department report, May 6, 2003; probable cause statement filed with the Third District Court of Salt Lake City, Utah, May 9, 2003; Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office jail booking sheet, May 6, 2003; judgment of forfeiture filed with Third District Court of Salt Lake City, Utah, May 3, 2004; guilty plea filed with Third District Court of Salt Lake City, Utah, July 22, 2003; bench warrant filed with Third District Court of Salt Lake City, Utah, August 25, 2003. All of these documents were obtained by the author through a public records request.

    5. VH1, Celebrity Rehab, episode 307, “Family Weekend,” February 19, 2010. Mike’s official biography for the show can be seen at http://www.vh1.com/shows/celebrity_rehab_with_dr_drew/season_3/cast_member.jhtml?personalityId=13233.

    6. Video of the performances of “Man in the Box,” “Shout It Out Loud,” and “Rock and Roll All Nite” can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF15vxXXLwc, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaoJ1CXVZXU, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1_JLBJ0N8s; Mike Starr, interview on KROQ Loveline, February 17, 2010; Blabbermouth.net, “Mike Starr Featured on Leiana’s Cover of Sonic Youth’s ‘Kool Thing’; Audio Available,” March 24, 2011, http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-starr-featured-on-leiana-s-cover-of-sonic-youth-s-kool-thing-audio-available/#hHkm37jJvKZ6LmuM.99. A partial audio recording of “Kool Thing” can be heard at http://www.alternativenation.net/?p=3287.

    7. Mike Starr, Loveline interview.

    8. KROQ, “Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains Slams Dr. Drew’s Celeb Rehab,” February 21, 2010, http://kroq.cbslocal.com/2010/02/21/jerry-cantrell-of-alice-in-chains-slams-dr-drews-celeb-rehab/; WMMR.com, “Alice in Chains Drummer Slams ‘Celebrity Rehab’ as ‘Disgusting,’” February 18, 2010, http://www.wmmr.com/music/news/story.aspx?ID=1198068.

    9. Mike Starr, Loveline interview.

  10. Mike Starr memorial service DVD, March 20, 2011. A copy of the DVD was provided to the author by Gayle Starr.

  11. Salt Lake City Police Department report, February 17, 2011.

  12. Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office jail booking sheet, February 17, 2011, obtained by the author through a public records request.

  13. Mike Starr memorial service DVD.

  14. Mike’s voice mail to Chris Jurebie was described on the Mike Starr memorial service DVD.

  15. TMZ, “Mike Starr’s Last Voicemail—I ‘Need’ Drugs,” March 10, 2011, http://www.tmz.com/2011/03/09/mike-starr-voicemail-drugs-phone-call-alice-in-chains-death/.

  16. Salt Lake City Police Department report, March 8, 2011, obtained by the author through a public records request; Salt Lake City Police Department watch log, March 8, 2011, http://www.slcpd.com/Newsroom/Press_Releases/SLCPD/Watch%20Log99CN%20Tuesday99CM%20March%20899CM%20201
1/.

  17. Salt Lake City Police Department report, March 8, 2011.

  18. Ibid.

  19. Gil Kaufman, “Mike Starr Mourned by Former Alice in Chains Bandmates,” MTV News, March 9, 2011, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1659488/mike-starr-alice-in-chains-death.jhtml; Facebook, Official Mike Inez Page, March 9, 2011, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150120611653701&set=a.269811598700.143543.213654063700&type=1&stream_ref=10; Ryan J. Downey, “Mike Starr Remembered by Dr. Drew, Nikki Sixx, Steven Adler,” MTV News, March 8, 2011, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1659481/mike-starr-alice-in-chains-death.jhtml.

  20. Last will and testament of Michael Christopher Starr, December 4, 2004; Peter F. Cowles, “Motion for Appointment of Personal Representative; Adjudicating Estate Solvent; Directing Administration Without Bond or Court Intervention and Issuance of Letters Testamentary,” May 5, 2011, obtained by the author through public records.

  21. Regarding the public memorial service at Seattle Center, see Melissa Allison, “Memorial Held for Alice in Chains Bassist Mike Starr,” Seattle Times, March 20, 2011, http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2014556157_starr21m.html.

  22. Mike Starr memorial service DVD.

  CHAPTER 29

  Sources for this chapter include author interviews with Annette Cisneros, Jamie Elmer, Jim Elmer, Gillian Gaar, Jeff Gilbert, Dave Jerden, Mike Korjenek, and Elan Trujillo.

    1. Allen B. Draher, “Verified Application for Order Adjudicating Intestacy and Solvency, Appointing Co-Administrators, and Granting Nonintervention Powers,” April 24, 2002, obtained by the author through public records.

    2. Rick Anderson, “Smack Is Back,” Seattle Weekly, October 9, 2006, http://www.seattleweekly.com/2003-01-08/news/smack-is-back/; Nancy Layne McCallum, newsletter, Layne-Staley.com, http://www.layne-staley.com/?page_id=678.