Alice in Chains is a popular and influential rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987. They were one of the most commercially successful bands from the Seattle grunge music scene, selling an estimated 20 million albums in the US alone, and an estimated 60 million worldwide. Unlike many of their peers, Alice in Chains owed more to heavy metal than to punk rock or classic rock, but the group became closely associated with grunge due to their Seattle roots, their image, and their introspective and sometimes morbid lyrics.

In 1987, Layne Staley met guitarist and song-writer Jerry Cantrell at a party and allowed him to stay at the Music Bank Hotel with him. Eventually, Cantrell invited Staley to join his band, Diamond Lie, which soon added Cantrell's friend, bassist Mike Starr. They recruited drummer Sean Kinney, who was dating Starr's sister, to complete the lineup.

The new group began writing original material and playing clubs in Seattle, eventually taking the name "Alice in Chains." (The name derived from one of Layne Staley's former bands, Alice N' Chainz, originally called "sleeze." According to Staley, Alice N' Chainz would dress in drag at concerts, and he noted that he felt the name would fit a band that "dressed in drag and played speed metal.")

The band signed with Columbia Records in 1989. After recording a series of demos in early 1989, the band offered its first official release in July 1990, the We Die Young EP

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Albums

• Facelift 1990

• Dirt 1992

• Alice in Chains 1995

Videos

Rooster LIVE w/Orchestra and Band - Alice in Chains This is a live recording of Rooster with the band and a full orchestra. It's very similar to what Metallica did with their S&M concert. I went ahead and matched it up with the video. No clue when... Posted by RDMusic007 Thu 11 Oct 2007 17:20 © All rights reserved

Pictures

Jerry Cantrell Taken by cabwaylingo © All rights reserved.