Mike Starr, legendary Alice in Chains bass player, found dead

[cali]

* The Guardian, Wednesday 9 March 2011


Mike Starr, the former Alice in Chains bass player who went public with his drug problems on a reality TV show, has been found dead nine years after the band's singer died of an overdose.

The body of the 44-year-old Starr was discovered on Tuesday in a house in Salt Lake City according to police.

Starr left Alice in Chains shortly after the release of their breakthrough 1992 album Dirt and before they went on to enjoy greater success during the heyday of Seattle grunge.

But the band was rocked in 2002 by the death of singer Layne Staley, whose body was found in a Seattle apartment.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/09/mike-starr-alice-in-chains-dies

[stevedeshazer]

1. Nooooo!!!

:(

[Parker CA]

2. Especially sad after seeing the run he was successfully (seemingly) having with sobriety.

Quite a talented musician.

[cbdo2007]

3. RIP

He couldn't seem to find peace here on Earth so I wish him the best wherever he is now and hope he gets to play with Layne again.

[Initech]

4. Damn I loved AIC.

[mmonk]

6. They are still around. I saw them last year.

[Initech]

11. Yeah, but...

Seeing AIC without Layne Stanley is like seeing the Doors without Jim Morrison, Sublime without Brad Nowell, etc...

[mmonk]

12. Actually I think they recovered fairly well.

DuVall is good enough vocally (nobody will replace Layne) and Jerry is still good as ever.

[Lisa0825]

5. I am very sad about this.

He is the reason I watched Celebrity Rehab. I really wanted him to get his life back and find happiness. Seeing him and Layne's mom together on the show was so moving. This is so tragic. It is sad when anyone bears so much pain and meets such an untimely death, but it does seem more poignant when it happens to someone with so much talent, who fell from such a peak of success to the bottom, and couldn't get back up.

Condolences to his family and all others who loved him. :grouphug:

[w8liftinglady]

7. In Starr's honor.. "Man in the Box"

needless to say,I am an AIC fan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAqZb52sgpU

[mmonk]

8. Both my son and I can play that on guitar.

I brought him up right.:)

[ChoppinBroccoli]

9. Alice In Chains Is Still Around And They Still Rock

Their new album (and I hesitate to call it "new" because it's about a year old now) rocks just like the old Alice In Chains albums. And I don't know how they did it, but they managed to find a lead singer who sounds EXACTLY like Layne Staley.

[BlackHoleSon]

10. Jesus this sucks!

He seemed to carry a lot of guilt over Layne's death.
"Dirt" is one of the really great rock albums - I would venture to say it holds up better than any other album of that era. And it is the ultimate examination of a junkie's loss of humanity.
Mike Starr's bass sound is all over that album.
Sad,sad, sad.