Estates Of Original ALICE IN CHAINS Members LAYNE STALEY And MIKE STARR Sell Their Rights To Band's Catalog

The independent publishing powerhouse Primary Wave Music has announced its acquisition of music rights from the estates of Layne Staley and Mike Starr of the legendary grunge group and Grammy-nominated band ALICE IN CHAINS. The deal will see the publisher acquire a stake in Staley's and Starr's music publishing catalog, as well as master royalty income stream. Many of ALICE IN CHAINS' biggest and most memorable hits are included, songs that defined an era. Just some of the royalties acquired include "Man In The Box", "Rooster" and "No Excuses", as well as their hit recording "Would?" which was released in 1992 and not only appeared in the film "Singles" but was also included on the critically acclaimed soundtrack. Rolling Stone called the song "timeless" saying it's "the work of a band which understands that life gets way out of hand but that first-rate rock recordings can't." A number of additional songs in the catalog include several Grammy-nominated singles, number one hits, and many platinum and multi-platinum tracks.

Additional deal terms will now see members of both estates gain access to Primary Wave's entire marketing team, digital team, branding team and publishing infrastructure which includes licensing and synch opportunities.

Primary Wave's David Weitzman said in a statement: "Primary Wave is pleased to partner with the estates of Layne Staley and Mike Starr to honor their musical legacies as part of the classic era lineup of ALICE IN CHAINS, who created the amazing songs and records that comprise the albums 'Dirt' and 'Facelift', and the acoustic EPs 'Jar Of Flies' and 'Sap'. These projects represent the greatest works from one of the best artists of the iconic Nineties Seattle-based grunge era."

Staley's well-publicized battles with drug addiction brought ALICE IN CHAINS' career to a virtual standstill in 1996, with his death seemingly putting an end to the band as well. But ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with vocalist William DuVall, who had been part of guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell's solo backing band. ALICE IN CHAINS has since cut three studio albums.

Cantrell told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that Staley, who died in 2002, was a singular talent. "Layne was a very unique, one-of-a-kind guy," he said. "There's, like, a handful of those guys in music, for every generation, that are that unique and that hard to cop, but a lot of people try. [Laughs] But there's a lot of people that feel the weight of what that guy brought to music and have been influenced by it."

Mike was found dead in a house in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 8, 2011. Starr, who was a founding member of ALICE IN CHAINS and played on its first two albums, was 44 years old. Police who were called to the scene said that foul play was not suspected, but that drugs were found near the body.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Starr had struggled with drug problems for years and was dismissed from ALICE IN CHAINS in 1993 due to his addiction. He had been arrested numerous times over the years for DUI, reckless driving, and various drug charges in Los Angeles, Seattle and Salt Lake City. Just a month prior to his death, he was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance in the latter city.

Starr was featured as a cast member of the third season of the VH1 reality series "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" in 2009. Hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky, the season consisted of eight episodes that followed the real-life experiences of celebrity patients undergoing detoxification and treatment at the Pasadena Recovery Center. However, like fellow rocker participant Steven Adler of GUNS N' ROSES fame, Starr seemed to struggle once his season on the show was finished.