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Alice in Chains Rocker, Celebrity Rehab Patient Mike Starr Dead at 44
E! ^ | 3/8/2011

Posted on 03/08/2011 5:38:53 PM PST by My Favorite Headache

Mike Starr's demons tragically caught up with him.

The original bassist for Alice in Chains was found dead Tuesday in Utah. He was 44. Cause of death has not yet been released.

Starr, who battled drug addiction, appeared on the third season of Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew in 2009 and gave a testimonial marking six months and seven days of sobriety during season four.

But his latest run-in with the law implied that he had hit a roadblock in his recovery.

GALLERY: Celebrity Deaths in 2011

* Mike DeStefano, Last Comic Standing * Jane Russell, The Outlaw * Amanda Seyfried, Gary Winick * Deadliest Catch, Justin Tennison * Len Lesser

Starr was arrested last month in Salt Lake City on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance for allegedly having six Xanax pills and six tablets of the painkiller Opana.

"Devastating to hear of Mike Starr succumbing to his illness. So very sad. Our prayers are with his family," Dr. Drew Pinsky tweeted this afternoon.

Starr, who was born in Honolulu, played in Seattle with Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney as the glam band Diamond Lie, which later morphed into Alice in Chains with the addition of Layne Staley.

Their first studio EP was 1990's We Die Young.

Starr left the band in 1993 while they were touring with Ozzy Osbourne and was replaced by Mike Inez. Starr mentioned during his time on Celebrity Rehab that he had been booted from Alice in Chains because of his drug problem.

Inez was the one to reunite with Cantrell and Kinney in 2005 for a benefit concert for victims of the tsunami in South Asia. Staley died of a drug overdose in 2002.

"I totally back Mike and I back his efforts to get clean and remain somebody that I and the band really care about—he's a friend of ours, you know, and we wish him the best," Cantrell wrote in the liner notes to the band's 2009 album Black Gives Way to Blue.



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Another up in the sky...gone way too soon...waste of talent. Hope Mike and Layne are jamming away like never before up there. Mike was just about finished as a human being when Layne left on his terms.

RIP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nco_kh8xJDs

1 posted on 03/08/2011 5:38:56 PM PST by My Favorite Headache
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To: My Favorite Headache

Man in The Box bump.

Why was the other thread nuked, do you know?


2 posted on 03/08/2011 5:43:52 PM PST by humblegunner (Blogger Overlord)
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To: My Favorite Headache

Great band, Alice in Chains - listened to them a lot in the early ‘90s. I can still remember gasping when I heard Layne had passed 9 or 10 years ago. Always hoped he’d get better and they’d be able to get together again.


3 posted on 03/08/2011 5:44:50 PM PST by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: My Favorite Headache

Wasn’t he the hot headed ahole on that show. Charlie aint far behind..


4 posted on 03/08/2011 5:46:30 PM PST by goseminoles
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To: My Favorite Headache
Their first studio EP was 1990's We Die Young.

Hey. The album title says it all. Mike was just keepin' it real man. Their music was generic and dull. It looks like the only one to try and make it a full life will be Cantrell.

5 posted on 03/08/2011 5:50:26 PM PST by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: My Favorite Headache

6 posted on 03/08/2011 5:55:03 PM PST by killjoy (Life sucks, wear a helmet.)
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To: My Favorite Headache

Have the live album on mp3 format and Layne just belts everything thru the roof. Saw them live in Vancouver many, many years ago and won’t forget that show. Would is still one of my fave headbang songs of all time.


7 posted on 03/08/2011 5:59:24 PM PST by max americana
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To: humblegunner

Oh the mod’s have been having a field day lately being ridiculous...just outright deleting threads and putting things like “Belong in chat”....SO MOVE IT TO CHAT THEN.

Or removing threads with 300 posts on them and locking them and showing a thread started 2 mins before with 7 replies and keeping that one.

Zero sense sometimes.


8 posted on 03/08/2011 6:06:10 PM PST by My Favorite Headache (In a world where I feel so small, I can't stop thinking big.)
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To: My Favorite Headache

Gretchen Wilson & Alice in Chains - Barracuda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqQkECIn738
Rest in peace Mr. Starr


9 posted on 03/08/2011 6:11:09 PM PST by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: max americana

Alice in Chains had a lot of rockin’ songs that still sound good today, even though they’ve been around for a lot of years. Standing the test of time is a good testament to the quality of the band and the music it put out.

Starr will be missed.


10 posted on 03/08/2011 6:18:32 PM PST by Two Kids' Dad ((((( )))))
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To: Lazlo in PA
Jar of Flies holds up OK. The rest, not so much. But then, the overwhelming majority of music from the 90's has the depth of a puddle. Worst decade ever for music.
11 posted on 03/08/2011 6:18:44 PM PST by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard (Some men just want to watch the world burn.)
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To: My Favorite Headache
"Starr mentioned...that he had been booted from Alice in Chains because of his drug problem. ... Staley died of a drug overdose in 2002."

Was it his choice of drugs? Some drug users are more equal than others?

12 posted on 03/08/2011 6:18:54 PM PST by Flag_This (Real presidents don't bow.)
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To: My Favorite Headache

Lotta people don’t win the dance with the Dragon.


13 posted on 03/08/2011 6:18:54 PM PST by Free Vulcan (Vote Republican! You can vote Democrat when you're dead.)
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To: My Favorite Headache

He gave a good portion of the Seattle female population herpes in the 1990s so at least many have a lifetime momento to remember him by.


14 posted on 03/08/2011 6:19:55 PM PST by Proud_USA_Republican ("The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.")
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To: WhistlingPastTheGraveyard

Out of all the Seattle bands out back then the only one I missed was Soundgarden when they broke up.


15 posted on 03/08/2011 6:31:28 PM PST by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Free Vulcan

Nobody really wins. Some survive, but no one wins.


16 posted on 03/08/2011 6:36:39 PM PST by SuzyQue (Remember to think.)
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To: Flag_This

Staley was the voice of AIC and contributed greatly to the music development. They never would of booted him from the band. He did drugs, but he always pulled it off when performing on stage.

As for Mike Starr, he didn’t write any of the songs, and by the time they started touring for Dirt album, he was soo wasted all the time that he was making all kinds of mistakes during live shows. That’s why they kicked him out, even when this was at a time when the band was at it’s most popular.

So they went out and got Mike Inez who was a very good bass player who had toured with Ozzy. He’s been with them ever since and contributed to a lot of their new material.

The new AIC album that came out last year was easily one of the most underated albums of 2010. I saw them live last year and they were very good.


17 posted on 03/08/2011 6:41:51 PM PST by Proud_USA_Republican ("The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.")
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To: My Favorite Headache

RIP.


18 posted on 03/08/2011 6:42:14 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj (~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Amber Lamps !"~~)
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To: NewRomeTacitus; cripplecreek; creeping death; JeffreyH; RandallFlagg; cschroe; rollo tomasi; ...

Metal Ping!


19 posted on 03/08/2011 6:43:17 PM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: notatard?; Rainbow Rising; garandgal; KoRn; mitch5501; Betis70; bigheadfred; WoofDog123; ...

Metal Ping!


20 posted on 03/08/2011 6:43:22 PM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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