Layne was battling heroin addiction for years and was very sick here and this was one of his last performances (1996) (he even shot heroin before going on stage), as he isolated himself for the next few years and was barely seen publicly, he even lost nearly all of his teeth due to his heavy drug use, he tried rehab 13 times during his life and still couldn't do it.. he died from a heroin overdose in 2002 at only 34, RIP 💔
I’m so pleased to see that other people feeling this beautiful song as same as I feel 😢 All of us can sense those emotions in this performance ❤ This is the beauty of real music, based on passion and emotions.
This song is a love song from guitarist Jerry Cantrell to the love of his life Courtney Clarke. Early pressings listed this as the 12th track in the album. Later pressings listed this as the 4th track supposedly to fit better with the band’s desire to have the album loosely tell a story from song to song. Songwriter and guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song in the Music Bank box set liner notes, “Down in a Hole’s in my top three, personally. It’s to my long-time love. It’s the reality of my life, the path I’ve chosen and in a weird way it kind of foretold where we are right now. It’s hard for us to both understand…that this life is not conducive to much success with long-term relationships." Once Layne got his voice where he wanted it, it stayed there with little effort. He was always better live than studio version. Layne's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range was so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals. Barrett Martin (who played with Layne in Mad Season) said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne's vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful. Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12 year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002. Layne was so much more than his drug addiction. He was able to come up with lyrics and harmonies off the top of his head. He knew enough to know that Jerry Cantrell was playing with the wrong people and gave him contact info for Sean Kinney and Mike Starr. He wrote the lyrics for the songs he sang on Mad Season's Above album and drew the cover art for that album. Layne was a genius in his own right. He still was able to figure things out in a snap off the top of his head. Layne just had his demons. With MTV Unplugged, when Layne finally gave the Okay to do it. They were supposed to rehearse in Seattle but NO one showed up. Sean, Mike and Jerry would show up at different times but Layne would be MIA or Layne would show up for one or two songs and then leave. When they finally got to New York, Sean and Mike had an argument with Jerry because they thought with Layne's condition and addiction, he wouldn't be able to hit the high notes. Jerry was the ONLY ONE who was confident that Layne could do it. When you watch DOWN IN A HOLE Unplugged, and Layne hits that high note, you see Jerry look over at Sean and Mike with this "I TOLD YOU SO!" smirk. Layne did it again on ROOSTER Unplugged and Jerry did that same smirk. The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because Layne was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged and he knew it. He was just high enough to do the show to fight off withdrawal symptoms and he didn't get dope sick. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had chosen for his life. That show was filmed in April, 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a six-year-long slow suicide. MTV (and the music industry) has more or less blackballed Layne (and yet, they laud over Kurt Cobain every April 5th, because Kurt was the "face of grunge", meanwhile Layne gets a "by the way"). The Grammys went so far as to invite Jerry, Mike and Sean to the Grammy show in 2003 and then refused to put Layne's picture up in the memorial of the musicians who died in 2002. (Or they "forgot" to) which pissed Jerry, Mike and Sean off and they walked out on the show. The friendship between Jerry and Layne was unbreakable. Jerry NEVER once thought of replacing Layne as the singer while Layne was still alive. He always wanted Layne to sing whenever he had AIC do something. If there were ever cosmic soulmates ... Layne and Jerry would be it. (And by that I mean, they were Sympatico with each other. The way they sang together was a perfect pitch where two voices make one. What you hear and see between Jerry and Layne was a genuine friendship. They looked after each other. When one had problems with a song, the other picked up the slack. They were a team. Jerry was doing a solo concert in Charlotte, NC when he heard that Layne was found two weeks after he died and Jerry was trying to get through the concert and crying. He did shows between the time he found out about Layne until Layne's funeral because if he had taken a break then, he didn't think he'd want to continue anything later after the mourning period. Alice In Chains was a band, but they were also a family. They had internal issues just like any family. When Layne died, it was like losing a loved one, a family member, you don't think of the fights you had with the person who died. You defend their memory. There is a reason Jerry wrote NO EXCUSES about Layne and the line "You, my friend, I will defend / And if we change, well, I'll love you anyway." "Whatever dramas are going on in my life, I always find that place inside my head where I see myself as the cleanest, tallest, strongest, wisest person that I can be." -- Layne Staley "My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title." -- Layne Staley "When I tried drugs they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me - and now I'm walking through hell and this sucks. I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them. I didn't want my fans to think heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen." -- Layne Staley "My grandmother and mother were such huge losses, but I got Layne, the guys, and I got this.” - Jerry Cantrell, Kerrang! (December 1, 2018) “Jerry really loved Layne [Staley]. They had a bond I haven't seen before,” Jerry’s former manager Bill Siddons, April 19, 2002 (the day Layne was found two weeks after he died).
Factually everything you said was nearly flawless... Will contribute my 2¢, take or leave, no offense taken... There is a misconception a soulmate is "the one" or "the love of my life" which is possible but misleading... A soulmate is a person you choose to reincarnate with multiple lifetimes.. to make it more digestible I get saying (cosmic soulmate)Anywaysi agree they are and were soulmates
Masterful performance of an all time great song. This song was actually written by Jerry the guitarist/vocalist, the lyrics just hit really deep for Layne and what he was going through so it added extra impact and emotion to the performance. Anyway Jerry is one of the best songwriters and musicians ever and Layne an all time great singer. They were truly a special once in a lifetime musical partnership.
This is the music from my generation and this version of the song makes me fall in love with it every time I hear it!! It was so beautiful to watch you experience it !!!
React to his love hate love video at Moore, it was a few years earlier than his unplugged performances, and he was a bit more “alive” then. It’s nice to beable to see him when he was enjoying life more. So sad, RIP.
Layne went off the deep end after this, and really started to struggle. He lost nearly all his teeth, and if you listen closely you can hear it the beginning of that here when he tries to sing anything with an S... he has a lisp.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Neva Play (feat. RM) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TpYTyAaTRts/mqdefault.jpg)
Best vocalist ever in my opinion! RIP brother… 🤘🏼
No doubt!
Layne or Chester!!!
@@therealcarter1353 Layne
Your reaction is exactly why Layne will be remembered as one of the greatest vocalist of this era (of all time IMO).
He IS considered the greatest vocalist of any generation in my own humble opinion.
@@sgt_loeram1933 agreed!
Agreed. One of a kind.
Layne was battling heroin addiction for years and was very sick here and this was one of his last performances (1996) (he even shot heroin before going on stage), as he isolated himself for the next few years and was barely seen publicly, he even lost nearly all of his teeth due to his heavy drug use, he tried rehab 13 times during his life and still couldn't do it.. he died from a heroin overdose in 2002 at only 34, RIP 💔
The opened for Kiss a few months after this, then Layne OD'd after the show, and it was after that he became a virtual recluse. Such a sad story.
I think he did some crack not heroin here wish he was still here so much more great music Layne would have made rip Layne
R.I.P Layne!!!You've got such a Beautiful Heart Beautiful Woman!!❤
It’s a beautiful thing when music has the power to move anyone emotionally such as this did to you……
Best frontman that ever was. Rest easy, Layne. I hope you found peace, where ever you may be ❤❤
You're playlist is getting better every time! ❤️
Easily the best singer of our lifetime. He was a hurt dude and poured every bit of himself out through his voice.
must do "got me wrong" from same show
That’s a really good one 👍🏼 also should do “Rooster” and “frogs” from the same show
@@BayouBloods the unplugged version of frogs hits a different place inside 😭
Nutshell
Nutshell from this same show, is equally painful if not more so. Painful yet absolutely beautiful
I’m so pleased to see that other people feeling this beautiful song as same as I feel 😢
All of us can sense those emotions in this performance ❤
This is the beauty of real music, based on passion and emotions.
This song is a love song from guitarist Jerry Cantrell to the love of his life Courtney Clarke. Early pressings listed this as the 12th track in the album. Later pressings listed this as the 4th track supposedly to fit better with the band’s desire to have the album loosely tell a story from song to song.
Songwriter and guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song in the Music Bank box set liner notes, “Down in a Hole’s in my top three, personally. It’s to my long-time love. It’s the reality of my life, the path I’ve chosen and in a weird way it kind of foretold where we are right now. It’s hard for us to both understand…that this life is not conducive to much success with long-term relationships."
Once Layne got his voice where he wanted it, it stayed there with little effort. He was always better live than studio version. Layne's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range was so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals.
Barrett Martin (who played with Layne in Mad Season) said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne's vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful.
Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12 year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002.
Layne was so much more than his drug addiction. He was able to come up with lyrics and harmonies off the top of his head. He knew enough to know that Jerry Cantrell was playing with the wrong people and gave him contact info for Sean Kinney and Mike Starr. He wrote the lyrics for the songs he sang on Mad Season's Above album and drew the cover art for that album. Layne was a genius in his own right. He still was able to figure things out in a snap off the top of his head. Layne just had his demons.
With MTV Unplugged, when Layne finally gave the Okay to do it. They were supposed to rehearse in Seattle but NO one showed up. Sean, Mike and Jerry would show up at different times but Layne would be MIA or Layne would show up for one or two songs and then leave. When they finally got to New York, Sean and Mike had an argument with Jerry because they thought with Layne's condition and addiction, he wouldn't be able to hit the high notes. Jerry was the ONLY ONE who was confident that Layne could do it. When you watch DOWN IN A HOLE Unplugged, and Layne hits that high note, you see Jerry look over at Sean and Mike with this "I TOLD YOU SO!" smirk. Layne did it again on ROOSTER Unplugged and Jerry did that same smirk.
The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because Layne was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged and he knew it. He was just high enough to do the show to fight off withdrawal symptoms and he didn't get dope sick. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had chosen for his life. That show was filmed in April, 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a six-year-long slow suicide.
MTV (and the music industry) has more or less blackballed Layne (and yet, they laud over Kurt Cobain every April 5th, because Kurt was the "face of grunge", meanwhile Layne gets a "by the way"). The Grammys went so far as to invite Jerry, Mike and Sean to the Grammy show in 2003 and then refused to put Layne's picture up in the memorial of the musicians who died in 2002. (Or they "forgot" to) which pissed Jerry, Mike and Sean off and they walked out on the show.
The friendship between Jerry and Layne was unbreakable. Jerry NEVER once thought of replacing Layne as the singer while Layne was still alive. He always wanted Layne to sing whenever he had AIC do something. If there were ever cosmic soulmates ... Layne and Jerry would be it. (And by that I mean, they were Sympatico with each other. The way they sang together was a perfect pitch where two voices make one. What you hear and see between Jerry and Layne was a genuine friendship. They looked after each other. When one had problems with a song, the other picked up the slack. They were a team.
Jerry was doing a solo concert in Charlotte, NC when he heard that Layne was found two weeks after he died and Jerry was trying to get through the concert and crying. He did shows between the time he found out about Layne until Layne's funeral because if he had taken a break then, he didn't think he'd want to continue anything later after the mourning period.
Alice In Chains was a band, but they were also a family. They had internal issues just like any family. When Layne died, it was like losing a loved one, a family member, you don't think of the fights you had with the person who died. You defend their memory. There is a reason Jerry wrote NO EXCUSES about Layne and the line "You, my friend, I will defend / And if we change, well, I'll love you anyway."
"Whatever dramas are going on in my life, I always find that place inside my head where I see myself as the cleanest, tallest, strongest, wisest person that I can be." -- Layne Staley
"My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title." -- Layne Staley
"When I tried drugs they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me - and now I'm walking through hell and this sucks. I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them. I didn't want my fans to think heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen." -- Layne Staley
"My grandmother and mother were such huge losses, but I got Layne, the guys, and I got this.” - Jerry Cantrell, Kerrang! (December 1, 2018)
“Jerry really loved Layne [Staley]. They had a bond I haven't seen before,” Jerry’s former manager Bill Siddons, April 19, 2002 (the day Layne was found two weeks after he died).
Wow, thanks for that amazing background. I knew there was a reason this song hits so hard after a breakup.
Factually everything you said was nearly flawless... Will contribute my 2¢, take or leave, no offense taken... There is a misconception a soulmate is "the one" or "the love of my life" which is possible but misleading... A soulmate is a person you choose to reincarnate with multiple lifetimes.. to make it more digestible I get saying (cosmic soulmate)Anywaysi agree they are and were soulmates
That was a beautiful and honest reaction
Masterful performance of an all time great song. This song was actually written by Jerry the guitarist/vocalist, the lyrics just hit really deep for Layne and what he was going through so it added extra impact and emotion to the performance. Anyway Jerry is one of the best songwriters and musicians ever and Layne an all time great singer. They were truly a special once in a lifetime musical partnership.
This is the music from my generation and this version of the song makes me fall in love with it every time I hear it!! It was so beautiful to watch you experience it !!!
React to his love hate love video at Moore, it was a few years earlier than his unplugged performances, and he was a bit more “alive” then. It’s nice to beable to see him when he was enjoying life more. So sad, RIP.
U obviously have a beautiful heart 💚✌
Have you done Nutshell MTV Live yet?
Will be interested to see what haiirdo you wear during that video.
Love your reaction, good job
Please do nutshell from the same concert.
Keep playing the music that touches our hearts!!❤
RIP Layne Staley. 🙏
Just found your channel today. Love you Loveth.
Layne went off the deep end after this, and really started to struggle. He lost nearly all his teeth, and if you listen closely you can hear it the beginning of that here when he tries to sing anything with an S... he has a lisp.
Layne Staley and Chris Cornell ARE still the best voices in rock . And I don't care what you think . It's just my opinion
Heroin killz rockstar dead…Pretty sad
The love of his life died of an overdose, he couldn't take it, and died a year later the same way.
It was a lot more than a year later actually. He deteriorated gradually and nobody could save him. Everybody saw it coming and could do nothing.
Beautiful girl