I was smack dab in the middle of Seattle during the 90’s and my buddies and I could not get enough of the music. It was the soundtrack of our 20′s as we roamed Seattle bars and eating burgers at Dicks at 2 AM.
Alice in Chains was my favorite band and we hung out with them a couple of times after shows in college. The funny thing is that they were almost as enamored with us as we were with them. We were from two different worlds. They were rock stars who had just hit it big — which means famous and broke. We were clean-cut college guys without a care in the world. We were all devastated when lead singer Layne Staley died in 2002.
While I like the new CD that just came out with new singer William DuVall — the soul of the band is missing. I’ve thought about Layne a lot in the past couple weeks and found the transcript to what people are saying is his last interview. It was done by a journalist who ultimately wrote a book about him that was panned — by everyone. There was a nugget that I took away though. It was about his dad. He left the family in the 70’s and Layne never recovered … ever. It ate at him even when he was on the cover of all the music mags and selling millions of records.
So when you think dads don’t mean as much as moms, or if you ever question the impact of a dad on a kids life, think of this — and just be there.
From Layne’s last interview:
In the rest of the interview, Staley talked about his relationship with his family. He stressed that he’s always been close to his mother Nancy McCallum, sister Liz and stepsister Jamie, but that when he was eight years old his father walked out on the family and Staley’s life faded to black. “My world became a nightmare,” he said. “There were just shadows around me. I got [a] call saying that my dad had died, [but] my family always knew he was around doing all kind of drugs. Since that call I always was wondering, ‘Where is my dad?’ I felt so sad for him and I missed him. He dropped out of my life for 15 years.”
Staley insisted he always knew he had the talent and creativity to be rock star, and thought that if he became a celebrity his dad would return. So he started writing songs in his teens and jamming with other musicians. At the same time, he did a bit of research to find out where his father was living and what kind of man he was. “When I was 16, I tried to find him without saying a word to my family,” revealed Staley. “I did it for a long f—in’ time, and what I found over the years was not good, so I changed my mind about wanting to see my dad again.” At that point, Staley focused all his energy on music, reveling in it as a cathartic outlet. “I was about 20, and music became my only obsession to stay alive,” he said. “I had the chance to throw out all this anger by the music to help others.
It was therapeutic and worked [for] me for a while until my dad saw my picture printed on a magazine.” Just as Alice in Chains started to take off, the man Staley expended so much energy and anguish thinking about suddenly wanted to become a part of the rocker’s life. The then 21-year-old singer was wary, but he still hoped seeing his dad again would help fill the hole in his heart. “He said he’d been clean of drugs for six years,” Staley related. “So, why in the hell didn’t he come back before? I was very cautious at first. Then the relationship changed.
My father started using drugs again. We did drugs together and I found myself in a miserable situation. He started visiting me all day to get high and do drugs with me. He came up to me just to get some sh–, and that’s all. I was trying to kick this habit out of my life and here comes this man asking for money to buy some smack.” Being used by his father was one of the forces that contributed to Staley’s downward slide. “He finally kicked heroin use, and I’m still fighting,” he said bitterly. “I invested a lot of money on treatments. I know I did my best or what I thought would be right. I changed my number. I don’t wanna see people anymore and it’s nobody’s business but mine.”
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