12 Best Hard Rock Singers Of The 1990s

At the dawn of the 90's, change was in the air for the world of metal. After the hair metal scene started to embarrass itself, fans were left to wonder what new movement would be next. Quickly ditching their initial glam roots, one band returned to their stomping grounds in Seattle and emerged much darker than anyone could have imagined.

When Alice In Chains first broke on the scene with "Man in the Box," rockers and metalheads alike couldn't get enough of the band's aggressive sound. While they had some of the toughest riffs of the time, what really won you over was the vocal harmonies from Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley. Though Cantrell was known to be the main songwriter and vocal arranger, it was Staley who brought everything to 11 with his amazing scream. With just the right amount of pain in his voice, the bright melodic structure of the song would make every Staley performance feel both angelic and torturous.

Across albums like Dirt and Jar of Flies, Staley took his voice to places other rockers wouldn't touch, from the shrieks of "Them Bones" to the blunt honesty of "Nutshell." Though Staley may not have been with us for too long, the pain that he got out in his music has been a refuge for hard rockers for years.