5) Layne Would Sometimes Spend Weeks Without Contacting Anyone
As Layne’s addictions became more ingrained, he’d disappear for weeks without anyone hearing from him. Rumours persisted amongst fans that Staley was in a bad way, and despite a brief reformation and tour in 1995, things were falling apart, and Staley could no longer hide his condition. The death of his ex-fiancée, Demri Lara Parrott, from a drug-related infection pushed him further into depression. Staley’s final performance with Alice In Chains was in 1996.
By 2002, Staley was becoming harder and harder to reach. Preoccupied with his physical ill-health – sickness, vomiting, pain, and liver failure, he hid away in his Seattle condo for weeks on end, refusing to answer the phone or the door. It was not unusual for him to be out of touch for weeks and everyone despaired of saving him from the path he was on. He spent his last days alone, playing computer games, watching TV, and sleeping. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine in 1996, he commented:
"Drugs worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me, now I'm walking through hell.