I actually posted this response in another post on this part of the board. I saw that subject before I saw this one. So I figured I would post my response to this too.
Of course Michael's death has really touched me a lot. I am so so sad about it I really am. It is almost like I lost someone I actually knew with his death.
But another artist that died a few years ago that really touched me when he died was Layne Staley. As you will read below, he was a drug addict for years and most everyone who knew of Layne knew that his demise sadly was inevitable, but still when it did happen, it was really sad......
One of my favorite bands is Alice In Chains. Their lead singer Layne Staley died in 2002 from a drug overdose. A combination of Heroin and Cocaine were found in his system. To all of you who may not know the story of how he died....well here it is. It is probably one of the saddest stories of the death of a musician too.
This is a part of a story about Layne Staley written whey he died (that is why this part seems to be like there was something written before it, but I chose this because it's a pretty good summary of things that happened). This was taken from Askanswers.com-
"But the sporadic work eventually ground to a halt, as Staley seemed more interested in feeding his drug habit than pursuing music. His life took a turn for the worst in 1996 when his fiancée died from drugs, which friends say made the former Alice in Chains frontman blot out the pain with further drug abuse. During the last few years of his life, Staley rarely left his Seattle condominium, and refused to answer the door or phone when former bandmates or friends came around to check on the singer's condition (which had supposedly deteriorated to the point that he had lost most of his teeth and had abscesses all over his arms). Although it shouldn't have come as quite a surprise, the rock music world was shocked when Staley's dead body was found on a sofa in his condo, the victim of a lethal overdose of heroin and cocaine. Since the body had been in the apartment for two weeks and had begun to decompose, it was hard to determine at first the exact date of Staley's passing. Eventually, a date was determined, which proved to be eerie -- April 5, 2002 -- exactly eight years to the day that another leading figure of the early '90s Seattle rock scene also took his life, Kurt Cobain. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide "
Very sad. Many people feel that Nirvana and Alice in Chains were the Beatles and the Rolling Stones of Grunge (although I really don't think that Alice ever belonged in that category). So for Kurt and Layne to die the same day just different years makes it even more eerie.
The fact that he had so dropped out of life that it took two weeks for anyone to know he was dead is just the saddest part for me. This was a man with so many fans, that was famous. And he died totally alone, and worse no one even knew for two weeks. My God how sad is that? On so so many levels. The only reason anyone knew that something may be wrong is because his accountants noticed that money was no longer coming out of his account (it came out everyday for the purchasing of drugs they knew). So when it stopped and just did not pick up again after two weeks, that is when the Police were summoned to do a wellness check on Layne. And as you read, by then he had long left this earth.
For all of you who have no idea who Layne Staley is, or who Alice in Chains are and don't know what a talent the music world lost on that day in April 2002 here is a video showing just how amazing Layne's voice was. There has never been, nor will there ever be anyone that sounds like Layne again. He had the most amazing beautiful voice. It was just incredible. And Alice's music is just incredible....
Here is a video of Layne at his best-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfFtyOpwQkQ
It is also a tribute set to the song.... too. Love this song as well.....
Thanks for reading, and who knows maybe I converted some new fans to AIC......
KG