The Associated Press is reporting that a body was found at the home of Layne Staley, lead singer of Alice in Chains. Although the authorities cannot confirm the identify of the deceased at press time, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer quoted unidentified law enforcement sources as saying the body was Staley's. Staley was 34 years-old. 

According to the The Seattle Post-Intelligencer report on Sat (April 20) the person appeared to have died several days before being discovered. 

Alice in Chains was one of the first groups from the Seattle grunge scene to gain national attention. Their song “Man in the Box” from their 1990 debut album “Facelift” became a hit and firmly established the band as an early leader in the grunge movement. The band gave their last public performance together in 1996 for MTV’s “Unplugged” series. 

Staley had a well-publicized battle with heroin addiction for many years, which many believed contributed to the break-up of the band. It is not clear at press time what the cause of death was; the King’s County medical examiner’s office is scheduled to perform an autopsy on Saturday. 

We will have more information as it becomes available.

Update: Following an autopsy on Saturday, King County medical examiner's office has confirmed that the body found was that of Layne Staley according to a report by CNN. Cause of death has still not been determined.

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