Layne Staley's death has been ruled a drug overdose by the King County, Washington, Medical Examiner's office. According to the coroner's report, the thirty-four-year-old Alice in Chains frontman died on April 5th shortly after injecting a dose of heroin and cocaine. Staley's decomposed body wasn't discovered until two weeks later.

Staley's battles with heroin addiction were well documented, both in his music and in a 1996 Rolling Stone cover story. "If I'm staying busy, and if I'm getting my job done, and I'm doing things I think are great, then I don't have a problem with anything," Staley said at the time. "[Drugs] worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me -- and now I'm walking through hell."

The singer's family requested that any donations be made to Bellevue, Washington's Eastside Recovery Center.

ANDREW DANSBY
(May 8, 2002)