15 Best Hard Rock Singers Of All Time
6. Layne Staley - Alice In Chains
Out of all the bands coming from Seattle in the early 90's, Alice in Chains were a band of beautiful contradictions. Their sound was easily the most raw of all their contemporaries, but the unique approach to vocals gave the entire band an understated beauty. While you could pigeonhole their sound into grunge, no one was able to touch the vocal chops of Layne Staley.
However, you can't talk about Alice in Chains' vocals without mentioning Jerry Cantrell. The way he arranged the band's vocal parts gave an added dimension that sounded both gorgeous and eerie all at the same time. Though Cantrell may have had the technical expertise, Staley was the one who gave each performance its real power. The riffs may have been great, but it's hard to talk about something like "Man in the Box" or "Would?" without mentioning the pained howls coming from Staley's throat.
The songs may have been great to headbang to, but no one could have predicted how real the pain in Staley's voice was. His use of heroin throughout the band's tenure ultimately led to a fatal overdose in his apartment in 2002. Staley may not have been able to save himself, but we are fortunate enough to have gotten his fantastic vocal musings while he was here.