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Formed in 1987, Seattle, Washington - the home of "Grunge". Alice in chains were not really a Grunge rock band, but Columbia records decided to take advantage of the new trend with promotion. "Alice in Chains" were certainly a very different band, with a blend of hard and soft, even acoustic rock. The unfortunate death of frontman Layne Staley in 2002 due to a drugs overdose, finally finished the band after many rumours of a split.

Biography

1987 - "Alice in Chains" form in Seattle, WA.

1989 - They sign for Columbia records.

1990 - Alice release their first EP, "We die young", followed by the release of their debut album, "Facelift". They begin touring in September, their first gigs at the Marquee Club, California, and New York.

1991 - A busy year for the band. "Alice" appear in the Cameron Crowe movie, "Singles" playing their single "Would" on stage in a club. Another single from their debut album, "Man in a box", is released and becomes an MTV favourite. They receive a Grammy nomination for the "Best Heavy Metal Performance", but do not win. The billboard chart, however, was less enterprising, and the single only managed to creep into the top 20.

The band begin a European tour supporting "Megadeth", and follow up as the opening act on the "Clash of the Titans" tour, with other headliners; "Slayer", "Anthrax", and again "Megadeth". They also make a national TV debut, appearing on ABC, "In Concert". The album "Facelift" later goes Gold.

1992 - The band tour with "Van Halen" for four months. They later record and release a five track EP titled "Sap". They begin recording their new album, "Dirt". They support "Ozzy Osbourne", with Staley appearing in a wheelchair after breaking his foot in Quad bike accident, (the tour T-shirts featured and X-ray of Staley's broken foot). They tour throughout the US and Europe later that year.

1993 - Mike Starr quits and is replaced by Mike Inez, (formerly "Ozzy Osbourne"), on Bass. The band continue their European sell-out tour, although canceling their stadium dates supporting "Metallica", due to exhaustion. They return to the US, to record songs "A Little Bitter" and "What The Hell Have I", for the soundtrack to the movie "Last Action Hero", (Arnold Schwarzenegger).

They join the "Lollapalooza 93" tour with messrs, "Rage Against the Machine", "Tool", "Arrested Development", "Fishbone", "Primus", plus others. The band later release a new five track EP titled "Jar of Flies". Songs include "Rotten Apple," "Nutshell," "I Stay Away," "No Excuses," "Whale and Wasp," "Don't Follow," and "Swing On This." Their album "Dirt", in the duration, goes double Platinum!

1994 - The band continue their "Down in a hole" tour, with this track released as a single, along with single "Them bones". The band record and release the "Jar of Flies" EP which debuts on billboard at number one, and later goes Gold. Single "I Stay Away," is released with video on MTV. Layne Staley begins a side project with Mike McCready, ("Pearl Jam"), Barrett Martin, ("Screaming Trees"), and Mysterious Baker, called "Mad Season". With this side project, and the cancellation of "Alice" dates including "Woodstock 2", due to Staley's health, rumours were rife of a split.

1995 - The band begin recording a new album in April. Jerry Cantrell appears on country star Willie Nelson's, "Twisted Willie" album, track entitled "I've Seen All This World I Care To See". "Grind" a track from the new album is released prematurely, and raises expectations. The album, self titled "Alice in Chains", (AKA "Tripod"), is released in October. The album debuts on Billboard at number one.

1996 - "Alice in Chains" goes Gold and Platinum ! The band play on a session for "MTV unplugged" at the Brooklyn academy music theatre. The session is recorded and would later be released for Columbia records. June, the band join to support a reunited "Kiss", in Detroit, Louisville, St. Louis, and Kansas City. The "MTV unplugged" sessions are released and go Platinum within a month! September, and the band are nominated for "Best Hard Rock Video at the MTV Music Video Awards". Unfortunately they did not win.

1997 - Jerry Cantrell releases his solo side project titled, "Boggy Depot", with fellow "Alice" colleagues Sean Kinney and Mike Inez, and "Primus" frontman, Les Claypool on bass.

1998 - The band record two new tracks, "Died" and "Get Born Again".

1999 - "Alice" release their box set album compilation, "Nothing Safe - Best Of The Box".

2002 - Layne Staley's continued addiction to drugs finally ends in his death, in April. He is found dead in his flat through overdose. Speculation is that he died almost two weeks before his body was discovered, on April 5th, the exact same date that fellow "Grunge" pioneer, Kurt Cobain committed suicide back in 1994.

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