Lane Thomas Staley, at birth Lane Rutherford Staley is a famous American singer, songwriter and poetry writer, one of the founders of the rock band Alice in Chains.
Biography
The future musician was born in August 1967 on the 22nd in the American town of Kirkland. When the boy was barely seven years old, he had to endure a serious test. Parents decided to divorce, and Thomas was very upset by the collapse of the family. After the divorce, the boy stayed with his mother, and she raised him with his stepfather Jim Elmer. Already being an adult and an accomplished person, Staley will more than once recall in various interviews about his childhood experiences.
In fact, this event served as a starting point on the path to fame. The boy convinced himself that if he succeeds, then dad will definitely return to him. Thomas began to try himself in musical creativity and from the age of twelve he played drums in a school ensemble. Later he began experimenting as a vocalist. When he was eighteen, he created his own musical group "Alice in Chains", which played rather aggressive speed metal.
Career
The group's debut album was released in August 1990. A little later, the band released the single Man in the box, the lyrics of which were written by Thomas. The song literally blew up all sorts of charts, becoming a real hit and the hallmark of the group. Two years later, the band recorded and released their second album, called Dirt. The new disc became the most successful in the history of the American band. Dirt started at number six on the popular Billboard 200 chart and was later certified four times platinum.
Dizzying success and big money played a cruel joke with the band's vocalist, he quickly became addicted to alcohol and soft drugs. Over time, he began to indulge in more serious things, which became a serious obstacle for the group on tour. Due to the leader's drug addiction, the group stopped arranging long tours. In 1994, the band's first acoustic collection was released. Thomas was unable to cope with his addictions, and therefore decided to seek help from specialists. Soon the musician went to a rehabilitation center.
After a course of rehabilitation, Lane returned to the stage in 1995 and even performed with the band for some time, but the destructive habit took over and he again hit all the hard. He has spent his last years in voluntary isolation, deliberately avoiding public places and often spending time all alone.
Personal life and death
The famous musician was not distinguished by constancy and was never married. The fallen popularity brought Tom a large number of fans. He did not plan to start a serious relationship and regularly changed his favorites. One of the last of his girlfriends was Demri Perroth, who died from an infection that got into the body while using hard drugs. This event played a big role in Staley's life. After the death of the girl, he finally untied and gave up all attempts to overcome drug addiction.
Thomas died of a drug overdose on April 5, 2002. The first to suspect that something was wrong was his accountants, who noticed that no movements had been taking place on the artist's accounts for two weeks. Together with the musician's mother, they entered his house, where they found Staley's body. After the autopsy, the examination concluded that the death was due to the use of a heavy mixture of drugs.
