SEATTLE, April 20 (UPI) -- Layne Staley, a founder of the pioneer grunge rock band Alice in Chains, died in his Seattle home of unknown causes. He was 34.
An autopsy Saturday confirmed that the body found inside Staley's Seattle home was that of the musician. Authorities earlier in the day had refused to confirm the identity of the body found until initial tests were performed.
The King County Medical Examiner's office said in a brief statement to United Press International that the forensic examination had positively identified the body, although the cause of his death was still unknown "pending further study."
Alice in Chains joined groups such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden in the vanguard of the loud, grinding grunge music scene that placed Seattle to the forefront of rock music in the early 1990s.
Staley, however, had an admitted drug problem and had said publicly in the 1990s that he was addicted to heroin.
The cause of death of the body removed from Staley's University District home Friday night had yet to be determined, but officials at the medical examiner's office said the deceased appeared to have been dead for some time. There were no apparent signs of foul play and toxicology tests were outstanding.
The band's debut album, "Facelift," was released in 1990 and became a hit, and the prophetic song "We Die Young" became a top-5 metal track.
The trio's most notable release was the critically acclaimed 1992 album "Dirt," which featured the hit singles "Rooster" and "Would?" Their last release was in 1999.
A Saturday night vigil for Staley at Seattle Center was announced on the band's official Web site, which was receiving e-mails from saddened fans at a rate of around one every minute. Most of the missives were solemn, but one profanely expressed anger that Staley had joined fellow Seattle musicians Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix in a drug-influenced early death.
Nirvana's Kurt Cobain also struggled with substance abuse before committing suicide in 1994 while Hendrix, who was born in Seattle, died of an overdose in 1970.
Reported by Hil Anderson, Los Angeles
