<!-- Powered by Shantz WP Prefix Suffix. Tech Blog: http://tech.shantanugoel.com/ Secure Programming Blog: http://www.safercode.com/blog/ Blog: http://blog.shantanugoel.com/ -->{"id":485,"date":"2011-03-12T01:01:18","date_gmt":"2011-03-12T01:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/?p=485"},"modified":"2012-04-06T08:53:56","modified_gmt":"2012-04-06T08:53:56","slug":"last-interview-revealed-in-new-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/last-interview-revealed-in-new-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Interview Revealed In New Book"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- rememberlayne top post 2 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:468px;height:15px\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6173441909460537\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"5290871788\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/1b65086d69744c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-486 alignnone\" title=\"Layne\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/1b65086d69744c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/1b65086d69744c.jpg 480w, http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/1b65086d69744c-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">I personally heard this book was crap, and I believe it but I&#8217;ve never read it. If I found it for free maybe I might skim it but I&#8217;ll never buy it or buy into it ~ Barbara (site admin)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This is an article that was posted on MTV&#8217;s website on<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Feb 25 2003 1:03 PM<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"headline\">Late Alice In Chains Singer Layne Staley&#8217;s Last Interview Revealed In New Book<br \/>\n<span class=\"subTitle\">Layne Staley: Angry Chair \u2014 A Look Inside the Heart and Soul of an Incredible Musician<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>Almost a year after the April 2002 death of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley, the final interview with the troubled musician has surfaced in the recently released book &#8220;<strong><em>Layne Staley: Angry Chair \u2014 A Look Inside the Heart and Soul of an Incredible Musician<\/em><\/strong>&#8221; by Argentinean writer and music fan <em><strong>Adriana Rubio<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The conversation took place less than three months before Staley died from an overdose of heroin and cocaine (&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mtv.com\/news\/articles\/1453818\/staley-died-from-mix-heroin-cocaine.jhtml\" target=\"_blank\">Layne Staley Died From Mix Of Heroin, Cocaine, Report Says<\/a>&#8220;), and revealed a broken 34-year-old who had given up the will to live.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"zoom\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/0.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-487\" style=\"border: black 3px solid;\" title=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/0-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/0-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/0.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>&#8220;I know I&#8217;m dying,&#8221; he rasped through missing teeth. &#8220;I&#8217;m not doing well. Don&#8217;t try to talk about this to my sister Liz. She will know it sooner or later.&#8221; <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Staley, suffering from fever and nausea, told Rubio that his need for heroin was all-consuming, even though the effects of the drug were no longer enjoyable. He added that smack had completely ravaged his system and left him empty and filled with regrets.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This f&#8212;ing drug use is like the insulin a diabetic needs to survive,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not using drugs to get high like many people think. I know I made a big mistake when I started using this sh&#8211;. It&#8217;s a very difficult thing to explain. My liver is not functioning and I&#8217;m throwing up all the time and sh&#8212;ing my pants. The pain is more than you can handle. It&#8217;s the worst pain in the world. Dope sick hurts the entire body.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The most chilling passage of the interview reads like a suicide note.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I know I&#8217;m near death,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I did crack and heroin for years. I never wanted to end my life this way. I know I have no chance. It&#8217;s too late. I never wanted [the public&#8217;s] thumbs&#8217; up about this f&#8212;ing drug use. Don&#8217;t try to contact any AIC (Alice in Chains) members. <strong><em>They are not my friends<\/em><\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the rest of the interview, Staley talked about his relationship with his family. He stressed that he&#8217;s always been close to his <strong><em>mother Nancy McCallum<\/em><\/strong>, sister <strong><em>Liz<\/em><\/strong> and stepsister <strong><em>Jamie<\/em><\/strong>, but that when he was eight years old his father walked out on the family and Staley&#8217;s life faded to black.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My world became a nightmare,&#8221; he said. &#8220;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, &#8216;Where is my dad?&#8217; I felt so sad for him and I missed him. He dropped out of my life for 15 years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>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 a man he was.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When I was 16, I tried to find him without saying a word to my family,&#8221; revealed Staley. &#8220;I did it for a long f&#8212;in&#8217; time, and what I found over the years was not good, so I changed my mind about wanting to see my dad again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At that point, Staley focused all his energy on music, reveling in it as a cathartic outlet.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was about 20, and music became my only obsession to stay alive,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I had the chance to throw out all this anger by the music in order to help others. It was therapeutic and worked [for] me for a while until my dad saw my picture printed on a magazine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He said he&#8217;d been clean of drugs for six years,&#8221; Staley related. &#8220;So, why in the hell didn&#8217;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&#8211;, and that&#8217;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Being used by his father was one of the forces that contributed to Staley&#8217;s downward slide.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He finally kicked heroin use, and I&#8217;m still fighting,&#8221; he said bitterly. &#8220;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&#8217;t wanna see people anymore and it&#8217;s nobody&#8217;s business but mine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The remainder of &#8220;Layne Staley: Angry Chair&#8221; is composed of interviews with the singer&#8217;s mom and sister that outline Staley&#8217;s childhood, interests, personality, love life and career. The 146-page book also contains the author&#8217;s take on the European Renaissance and the history of heroin.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio wrote much of the text in first person and empathized with Staley&#8217;s family by comparing her struggle with bulimia to the ravages of addiction. She features quotes and song lyrics by musician John Brandon, who penned the book &#8220;Unchained &#8230; The Story of Mike Starr,&#8221; but did not interview any of Staley&#8217;s bandmates, friends, business associates or artists that toured with Alice in Chains.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Layne Staley: Angry Chair&#8221; features 50 pages of photos of Staley&#8217;s sketches, diary entries, childhood pictures, art work and his eulogy by his friend and Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/layne_s.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-488\" title=\"layne_s\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/layne_s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/layne_s.jpg 737w, http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/layne_s-300x193.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- rememberlayne top post 2 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:468px;height:15px\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6173441909460537\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"5290871788\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><a href=\"http:\/\/feedburner.google.com\/fb\/a\/mailverify?uri=Rememberlayne\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/subscribe-button.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- rememberlayne top post 3 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:320px;height:100px\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6173441909460537\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"9721071389\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is an article that was posted on MTV&#8217;s website on Feb 25 2003 1:03 PM. Almost a year after the April 2002 death of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley, the final interview with the troubled musician has surfaced in the recently released book &#8220;Layne Staley: Angry Chair \u2014 A Look Inside the Heart and Soul of an Incredible Musician&#8221; by Argentinean writer and music fan Adriana Rubio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,11,13,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-books","category-in-the-media","category-layne-staley","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rememberlayne.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}