Aftermath
An informal memorial was held for Staley on the night of April 20 at the Seattle Center which was attended by at least 1000 fans and friends, including Cantrell, Starr, Inez, Kinney and Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. Cantrell dedicated his 2002 solo album, Degradation Trip, released two months after Staley's death, to his memory. Following Staley's death, Alice in Chains officially disbanded. For the next several years, the band refused to perform together out of respect for Staley. In 2005, the remaining members reunited for a benefit concert for victims of the December 26, 2004 tsunami, with several vocalists filling in for Staley, including Patrick Lachman from Damageplan, Phil Anselmo of Pantera and Down fame, Wes Scantlin from Puddle of Mudd, Maynard James Keenan from Tool (a friend of Staley's), and Ann Wilson from Heart, who had previously worked with Alice in Chains when she sang on the Sap EP (performing backing vocals on the songs "Brother" and "Am I Inside"). Following positive response, the band decided to reunite formally in 2006.
In an interview with MTV News, Kinney noted that the band would use the reunion concerts to pay tribute to the songs and to Staley. William DuVall, a member of Cantrell's solo touring band (who often sang Staley's parts on the Alice in Chains songs that Cantrell performed), was announced to sing Staley's part for the reunion shows. In the same interview, Kinney noted the reunion didn't necessarily foretell a future for Alice in Chains:
| “ | If we found some other dude, I'd love to move on, write some cool tunes and change the name and go on like that. I don't see continuing as Alice and replacing somebody… We're not trying to replace Layne. We want to play these songs one more time, and if it seems like the right thing to do, it'll happen. I don't know how long it will go or where it will take us. It's kind of a tribute to Layne and our fans, the people who love these songs. | ” |
William DuVall has expressed similar sentiments while reflecting on the task of filling in for Staley:
| “ | If there had been that one formal discussion saying, 'Would you like to help us resurrect Alice in Chains?' I would have thought twice. But we were just playing for the fans who care about it and hadn't seen it in a long time. For all we knew it was going to be one more victory lap and goodbye. | ” |
The reformed Alice in Chains (with DuVall), which are known to have an intermission to include a five-minute filmed tribute in between sets to Staley, generated enough enthusiasm from fans, including Staley's mother according to DuVall, to convince the band to keep the name. In 2009, Alice in Chains released their first studio album in 14 years, Black Gives Way to Blue. The title track from the album was written as a tribute to Staley.
"God bless Layne. He was my favorite vocalist. I've never heard of a vocalist that had that much soul."
—Mike InezRead more about this topic: Layne Staley
Famous quotes containing the word aftermath:
“The aftermath of joy is not usually more joy.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)