News

In September of 2008, an unusual performance took place at downtown New York club Le Poisson Rouge. At stage right, opposite fellow six-string adventurer Marc Ribot, sat Lou Reed, conjuring clouds of free-rock energy from his guitar. Behind them, avant-garde mainstay John Zorn sent forth piercing, impassioned blasts of alto sax. And at the center of it all, churning with the fury of a whirlpool and dancing across his hand-painted drum kit with the control and flair of a flamenco master, was Milford Graves — the percussionist, healer, and interdisciplinary seeker who...

Alice in Chains vocalist-guitarist Jerry Cantrell reflects on how his band reunited in a new interview with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich for the latter’s Apple Music/Beats 1 radio show It’s Electric. The episode will air on February 10th at 3 p.m. Pt.

In an exclusive clip from the show, Cantrell says that he felt it was time to get the band back together after Layne Staley’s death once he realized that singer-guitarist William DuVall was the right fit. “We had to think about this,” he says. “This is our life.

Alice in Chains blend gritty realism and creepy fantasy in their new video for “Never Fade,” the latest single from the alt-metal band’s sixth LP, Rainier Fog. Director Adam Mason continues the cryptic dark thriller storyline from his previous clip for “The One You Know,” veering from an extra-terrestrial attack to a violent home invasion involving a plied-out tooth and a mysterious bodily fluid. Throughout the madness, Alice in Chains perform in the same dark setting from the earlier visual, their movements colored by red and green lights.

“The...

Alice in Chains enlisted the Doors guitarist Robby Krieger for a special performance of the grunge band’s classic “Rooster” during their concert Wednesday at the Palladium in Los Angeles, California.

Krieger added bluesy, atmospheric fills to the Dirt song, countering Jerry Cantrell’s wild wah-wah leads. The psych-rock veteran visibly smiled during Cantrell’s solo as he locked in-sync with singer-guitarist William DuVall.

The Doors-Alice in Chains connection runs deep: In December 2017, surviving Doors members Krieger and John Densmore reunited during an award ceremony at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle,...

Jerry Cantrell and Batman collide for the new song “Setting Sun.” It’s the Alice in Chains guitarist’s contribution to a series of tracks inspired by the DC Comics graphic novel Dark Nights: Metal: Deluxe Edition.

Cantrell recorded the pounding track with producer Mike Elizondo and film composer and Marilyn Manson collaborator Tyler Bates.

“All you were is wiped away / All your love has died today / Run, you are a setting sun,” Cantrell sings on the grim solo track that would sit comfortably alongside his Alice in Chains output.

Entercom has announced the launch of the “I’m Listening” campaign for mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

The campaign includes a two-hour on-air special that will be broadcast live from Seattle on World Suicide Prevention Day, Sunday, September 10 at 10:00 a.m. Et / 9:00 a.m. Ct / 8:00 a.m. Mt / 7:00 a.m. Pt across all Entercom platforms, a first in the company’s history. Additionally, the campaign includes suicide prevention PSAs, on-air promos and live conversation airing on Entercom stations beginning today.

The two-hour live special will focus on personal stories from artists and celebrities while offering help and resources to listeners via a live call-in option. The conversation will be led by Bj Shea, Entercom Seattle Kisw-fm on-air personality, and will feature guests such as Christine Moutier, M.D., chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Dr. Ursula Whiteside, clinical psychologist, CEO of NowMattersNow.

It is not really difficult in coming up with cinema siblings and assessing their impact on the films they graced with humor, horror or hedonism. Whatever the combination–brother and sister, brother and brother, sister and sister–the big screen has always produced some of the most compelling siblings to entertain or shock us as the lights go dim at the local cinemaplex.

So who do you favor as your all-time favorite movie siblings? Perhaps you wouldn’t mind brothers Michael and Sam from 1987′s The Lost Boys? Or how about sisters Drizella and Anastasia from the 1950 animated film Cinderella? Maybe you could go for the transformation of television’s Brady kids into the film version of 1995′s The Brady Bunch Movie?

In Sibling Rivalry: The Top 10 Fictional Siblings in Film we will take a look at a group of handful brotherly/sisterly personalities in the world of movies...

Jane's Addiction leader Perry Farrell has been on the vanguard for almost every important musical movement in the last three decades — alternative music, Lollapalooza, the rise of Edm, and Coachella, to name a few. Nowadays, though, it would seem the 54-year-old singer has different priorities — hanging with friends.

One of those friends would be Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell. The Chains have experienced a revival since hiring William DuVall to replace the late Lane Staley in 2007. That comeback trail has led to the also-reactivated Jane's Addiction and Alice In Chains teaming up to cross North America under the Rockstar Uproar touring festival banner.

Farrell couldn't be happier about reconnecting with Cantrell.

"I performed with Jerry at Sing Sing prison [for a benefit documented by MC5's Wayne Kramer] probably two years ago. That was the last time we hung out," says Farrell about Alice In Chains' central figure. "But other than that we had really lost touch...

What with the release of their incredible new album, ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’, earlier this month, we thought we should get some essential Alice tracks buzzing round your head.

The Seattle-based band were lumped in with the Grunge explosion of the late-eighties, early-nineties, but were never really belonged to it. Always seen as more of a “dirgey”, doom-tinged band with a healthy Sabbath influence. In fact, Alice were always the majority of Metal-heads and Metal bands, band of choice from the North-West city. Metal fans themselves, the band were comfortable with their Hard Rock/Metal tag. Invited along on the 1990 Clash Of The Titans, predominantly, Thrash Metal tour featuring Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, as the only non-Thrash band, opening every stop on the world tour. Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich cites second album, ‘Dirt’, as one of his favorite albums ever released and three of the ‘tallica boys were present...

Daft Punk stays at the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 this week with “Random Access Memories,” despite a 73% drop in sales. That means it still sold 93,000 copies. Alice in Chains’ new “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here” debuts at No. 2 with 61,000. It’s the rock band’s second album with lead singer William DuVall; the previous 2009 album “Black Gives Way to Blue” peaked at No. 5 on the chart, but bowed with 126,000 copies. John Fogerty’s collaboration album “Wrote a Song for Everyone” bows at No. 3 with 51,000. It’s the classic rockers’ highest charting album...

The eighth annual MusiCares Map Fund benefit concert will honor Alice in Chains co-founder Jerry Cantrell and certified interventionist and Sony/Atv Music Publishing Senior Consultant Neil Lasher at Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 31, 2012.

Cantrell will be honored with the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award for his dedication and support of the MusiCares Map Fund, and for his commitment to helping other addicts with the addiction and recovery process. Lasher will be the recipient of MusiCares’ From the Heart Award for his unconditional friendship and dedication to the mission and goals of the organization. All proceeds will benefit the MusiCares Map Fund, which provides members of the music community access to addiction recovery treatment regardless of their financial situation.

Hosted by television personality Steve-o, the evening will feature a special performance by eight-time Grammy nominees Alice In Chains featuring guitarist/vocalist Cantrell, guitarist/vocalist William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez,...

The Alice in Chains and Friends Fantasy Football League launched its 3rd annual charity auction on eBay this month.

The ten-day-long auction includes collectible items donated by league participants such as custom-made black denim pants, jacket, and studded belt worn by Jerry Cantrell during the Alice in Chains Blackdiamondskye Tour; a glove personally worn and autographed by Randy Wolf; a Mad Men script signed by the cast of the show; a bass signed by Duff McKagan, a gold record signed by Ann Wilson of Heart and more.

Proceeds from the auction will be donated to league champion William DuVall’s charity of choice, Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of America.

Read more...

Singer Layne Staley died of a drug overdose in 2002.

By Gil Kaufman

Photo: 2011 Getty Images

The death on Tuesday of former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr continued the tragic legacy of one of the most beloved bands to emerge out of the early 1990s grunge scene in Seattle.

Largely because of late singer Layne Staley's debilitating drug addiction, in their heyday, Aic were known almost as much for their long periods of inactivity as they were for their gloom-laden, brooding music.

Melding hard-rock guitars and the sludgy grunge aesthetic of the time, Aic stood out from the pack thanks to their adoption of a more classic heavy-metal sound and intense, almost unrelentingly bleak lyrics that touched on everything from drug addiction and isolation to the plight of Vietnam veterans.

The seeds of the group were formed in 1986, when a then-teenage Staley quit his first group, Sleeze, and formed a new band,...

'Celebrity Rehab' alum was 44 years old.

By Ryan J. Downey

Mike Starr in 1991

Photo: Marty Temme/ Getty Images

Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr was found dead Tuesday afternoon (March 8).

TMZ reports that police found Starr's body in a Salt Lake City, Utah, house at 1:42 p.m. He was 44 years old.

A co-founding member of the pioneering Seattle grunge band, Starr appeared on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" in 2009. He was arrested last month for felony possession of a controlled substance. Salt Lake City police said he had several painkillers on him when he was arrested. Alice in Chains have written heart-wrenching and evocative songs about drug addiction.

Former singer Layne Staley died in spring 2002 after overdosing on a mixture of heroin and cocaine, commonly known as a "speedball." The group mounted a successful comeback with 2009's Black Gives Way to Blue, which featured new vocalist William DuVall alongside guitarist Jerry Cantrell,...

'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't [happen],' Jerry Cantrell says of heading back into the studio.

By Brian Jacks

Alice in Chains' William DuVall and Jerry Cantrell

Photo: MTV News

The death of Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley in 2002 should have, by any reasonable expectation, ended the career of the platinum-selling rock act. But after an eight-year grieving period and the addition of a new singer, the group is back stronger than ever, with two consecutive singles landing at #1 on the Billboard Rock Songs chart. And nobody's more pleasantly surprised than guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell.

"I took my clothes off and ran down the street screaming at the top of my lungs," the songsmith joked to MTV News. "It's cool that we have something to say and there's somebody out there listening."

For newcomer William DuVall, replacing the enigmatic Staley has been a challenging journey as...

Usually, Wake-Up Video is dedicated to a moment in history, a birthday, a memorable album release or a relevant piece of news. But this morning's dedication is to Layne Staley, the former Alice in Chains singer who died of an overdose in 2002 and a guy who we miss dearly. He was brought up on Thursday night's tearful episode of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" on VH1 (which, if you haven't been watching, is a compelling train wreck of a show) when former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr told the emotional story of Staley's death. Starr blames himself for his best friend's death, as he was with Staley during his final days but did not call 911 even when Staley told him that he thought he was dying. It was an amazingly sad confession from Starr, who has been struggling with addiction himself for most of his adult life.

Staley was...

Alice In Chains have earned a Grammy nomination for “Best Hard Performance” for “Check My Brain,” the No. 1 hit single from the band’s new album Black Gives Way To Blue. Fueled by the chart-topping track, which hit No. 1 on the Modern, Active and Rock formats and was hailed by Spin magazine as “one of the catchiest songs of Alice In Chains' history,” the album entered Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart at No. 5, with first-week sales exceeding 126,000 copies.

The quartet (guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, guitarist/vocalist William DuVall, drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Inez) is maintaining momentum with second single “Your Decision,” which was this week’s No. 1 Most Added track at Modern and Active Rock. Earlier this week, the video for “Your Decision” premiered on iTunes and shot to No. 1 on their Rock Video Chart. Stephen Schuster, who they previously worked with on the video for “A...

'Even though we've gone through a lot of changes, I think we're a better band for it,' Jerry Cantrell says.

By James Montgomery

Alice in Chains

Photo: MTV News

Malibu, California — "I think this is like the 20th video I've made with this band," Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney deadpans. "And on every single one of them, I've asked myself: 'Why am I doing this?' I still don't know the answer!"

He's kidding (we think), because Aic certainly did film a video for "Your Decision" — which premiered Tuesday (December 1) on the iTunes Music Store — in late October with director Steven Schuster (who had previously directed their "A Looking in View" clip), at an ornate Malibu mansion, with the band decked out in suits, playing a cotillion waltz for a ballroom full of well-heeled extras.

It's a dark, Kubrick-ian video, full of twists and turns — according to Kinney,...

A true grunge innovator, Alice In Chains always left a better aftertaste than most of the genre’s imitators. Why guitarist Jerry Cantrell and company would risk sullying that reputation by recruiting a new singer to replace late frontman Layne Staley is anyone’s guess. The crazy thing: That risk has pretty much paid off. Black Gives Way To Blue, the group’s first album since Staley’s 2002 death, is packed with filthy, vertiginous riffs and new guy William DuVall’s impressively sympathetic growl, all of which jell to form a convincing extension of Alice In Chains’ smoky, gloomy ...

Alice in Chains, the Seattle band who first exploded onto the scene in the early '90s as part of the great grunge movement, is set to release it's first new album in 14 years in September. The album is called Black Gives Way to Blue and the title track will feature a guest spot by Elton John. The veteran rocker lent his piano playing to the song, which pays tribute to late Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley, who died in 2002. (The current incarnation of the band is co-fronted by Comes With the Fall singer William DuVall, who sounds remarkably like Staley.)

Sadly, surviving Alice in Chains members Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez know their way around such tributes. Back in 1992, "Would?" marked their first tribute track, which was recorded and released in memory of late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood (who died of a heroin overdose in 1990). "Would?...

'We just slowly took little steps until it felt right,' drummer Sean Kinney says of the band's journey after Layne Staley's death.

By Brian Jacks

Alice in Chains

Photo: James Minchin

They came of age alongside such contemporaries as Nirvana, Soundgarden and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Now, seven years after the death of troubled frontman Layne Staley, multiplatinum rock group Alice in Chains are returning to the spotlight with a new singer, a new album and a forthcoming world tour. And while fans have cautiously watched the new venture take shape, the guys are confident they can recapture the magic that made Alice in Chains one of the most influential acts of the 1990s.

"We've seen the crossed arms for the first couple of songs," relates vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell of their recent shows. "[But] then, by the end, people are having fun. They've let go of...

A seven-minute video is released for Alice in Chains' new single "A Looking in View". The song is particularly special because it is the first release from the band in 14 years after the self-titled album in 1995.

Alice in Chains are back in motion after losing their vocalist Layne Staley to drug abuse in 2002. The band took a hiatus for three years after Staley's death and reunited in 2005 with a number of guest singers. This year, they finally settled on a replacement, recruiting William DuVall to be the official vocalist.

The upcoming album "Black Gives Way to Blue" will be DuVall's debut with the band. Putting "A Looking in View" as the first single, the album will be released in U.S. on September 29.

The band will begin a tour on July 19 in Detroit, Mi. More about their road show can be found at the official site.

Alice in Chains' "A...

Alice In Chains will release their first album since 1995 later this year, it has been announced. The band signed a contract with Virgin/Emi Records to release the currently untitled LP, which is scheduled for a mid-September release in the Us, Rolling Stone reports. The upcoming record will be Alice In Chains's first album with new vocalist William DuVall. The singer joined the group in 2005, three years after original (more)...