Staind's Aaron Lewis Writes Tribute To Alice In Chains Singer

09/26/2002 12:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Mark Armstrong

(9/26/02, 12 p.m. ET) -- Staind vocalist Aaron Lewis was influenced by the songs and lyrics of late Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley. Lewis told LAUNCH that he feels that the death of one of alternative rock's great singers passed without much fanfare, so Lewis has penned an ode to Staley, which likely be included on the band's next album.

"I think it's just going to be called, 'Layne,' and the perspective I took on it was how it just kind of seems like it kind of came and went without all that much to do about the fact that he had passed away. It's just, 'I won't forget who you were,' and what he did for me. And how basically the words he was singing--I wasn't doing heroin, but I could still relate and it helped me through times that it seems like my music has helped other people through."

In an interview conducted last year with Lewis before Staley's death, he called the Alice In Chains singer's situation a "tragedy," and said he learned lessons about the perils of drug use through the singer's demise.

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.

Lewis said that Staind is still tracking the follow-up to Break The Cycle, which is still to be titled. In the mean time, Staind is releasing MTV2 Unplugged DVD on November 12.

-- Darren Davis, New York

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