Launch '02

Alice In Chains' Layne Staley Remembered By Fans & Jerry Cantrell

by Darren Davis, (New York)
Launch Aug. 22, '02

(8/22/02, 7 a.m. ET) -- Late Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley will be remembered on Thursday (August 22) on what would have been his 35th birthday. Seattle's Showbox Theater is planning a tribute, and it will be filmed for a forthcoming documentary on Staley.

In addition, Seattle organizers have also teamed up with fans and organizers in other cities around the world for a coordinated remembrance, which will begin at 7 p.m. local time with a moment of silence.

Staley's former bandmate in Alice In Chains, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, told LAUNCH he's still trying to deal with the loss of his friend. "Everything's different now that Layne's gone and I'm still in the process of dealing with the loss of him. And I'm sure I've got a long way to go with that. I'm just getting up every day and remembering how proud I am to have been a part of Alice and how lucky I was to have a friend like Layne for as long as I did and the things that we did," he said.

A statement on the laynestaleytribute.com site urged fans to "please reach out to someone in need on this day, whether it is addiction, recovery, or otherwise. Please let someone know you care."

Staley was found dead on the couch in his apartment from a heroin and cocaine overdose on April 19, surrounded by drug paraphernalia. A medical examiner determined that Staley died on April 5, from acute intoxication. His death was classified as an accident.

Cantrell is in Richmond, Virginia opening for Creed on Thursday (August 22).