10 Strongest Voices In Alternative Rock Music
1. Layne Staley
One of the most beloved rock frontmen of the nineties, who has been immortalised due to the fact that he stopped recording music and touring in 1996, slipping into a life of solitude and addiction before passing away at just 35 in 2002.
Layne Staley was the singer with Alice In Chains, whose debut album Facelift (1990) catapulted them into the big time, largely due to the success of the single Man In The Box, which was a bonafide MTV hit.
Hailing from the fashionable Seattle scene, Alice in Chains would release their follow-up album Dirt in 1992, largely considered to be one of the greatest alternative rock albums of all time. Dirt is a dark, brooding album of melancholy, with Layne lyrically baring his soul, as his words strongly depict the struggle of his addiction to heroin and other substances.
His voice had a soulful croon that made it totally unique in the rock world, and despite his troubles, Staley always delivered throughout Alice In Chains' prestigious recording career. One of his finest moments would come with his final studio album Above (1995), recorded with his Mad Season project which featured Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready on guitar, and was a heavily blues influenced mix of traditional and alternative rock, with Layne's voice sounding sublime throughout.