source: wikipedia

According to KEXP, Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan has declared August 22, 2019 as “Layne Staley Day” in Seattle, WA. Today (22nd) would have been the late Alice in Chains frontman’s 52nd birthday. The grunge legend passed away on April 5th, 2002 from a heroin overdose at the age of 34. 

The proclamation was made as a reminder to the Layne Staley Memorial Fund, which was created in 2002. The fund was established by his parents as the fund is meant to provide “hope, education, support and treatment funds for heroin recovery in the Seattle music community.” 

Events have been organized in celebration of Layne Staley day including a gathering scheduled to take place tonight (22nd) at the International Fountain in Seattle Center. For more information go to this location.

Staley’s final performance with AIC took place on July 3, 1996 in Kansas City, Missouri while the band were supporting KISS.

Staley worked on Alice In Chains first three iconic records with 1990’s Facelift, 1992’s Dirt, and their 1995 self-titled album.

William DuVall joined the group in 2006, four years after Staley’s death. DuVall has been a member of the band ever since. It took AIC seven years after Staley’s death to release 2009’s Black Gives Way to Blue, which marked the band’s first album in over a decade. Alice In Chains’ overall sixth studio effort, Rainier Fog, was released in August 2018.