Top 10 Best Songs about Layne Staley

Layne Staley was the co-founder and lead singer of Alice in Chains. He died in 2002 at the age of 34.

The following songs are considered tributes to Staley and his legacy in the music industry.

The Top Ten

  1. Layne - Black Label Society

    Unlike the Staind tribute, this one feels a lot more impactful. It helps that Zakk's riffs are really well done here. It is one of the best tribute songs to Layne out there. It's hard to not like this song or Zakk Wylde in general. This is a hell of a way to pay respect to Layne, so I give major props there.

  2. Black Gives Way To Blue - Alice In Chains

    This is one of the few Cantrell songs written about Layne. It's dark, brooding, and depressing, like a majority of AIC songs. It's kind of hard to listen to, if I'm being honest. But for what it's worth, it's a solid tribute and a good way to pay respect to him.

  3. Just a Bullet Away - Metallica

    Easily the superior Metallica tribute song. It's haunting, dark, and has a very eerie presence to it. It can't be overstated how good this song is. Granted, Hetfield and Layne didn't seem to get along back in the day, and I view this as Hetfield trying to be more apologetic to him than he was in the past.

  4. Rebel of Babylon - Metallica

    This is one of two Layne tribute songs made by Metallica, the other being Just a Bullet Away, which is the superior tribute between the two. However, this one is relatively nice and solid enough. It doesn't quite pack as much of a punch as the other one I mentioned.

  5. Bargain Basement Howard Hughes - Jerry Cantrell

    It's kind of hard to not notice parallels with Layne in this song, given how dark the lyrics are. However, unlike Black Gives Way to Blue, this song wasn't confirmed as a tribute to Layne by Cantrell. Still, it's definitely worth checking out if you've got the chance to do so.

  6. Layne to Rest - Katastrophy Wife

  7. The Day Seattle Died - Cold

    This song is a tribute to both Layne Staley and Kurt Cobain, who died eight years prior to Staley. I am not a Cold fan, but this song is pretty tolerable. Scooter Ward's voice here actually feels somewhat heartfelt compared to other songs he has made.

  8. The Outsider - A Perfect Circle

    This is only at number eight mostly due to it being hearsay. Lots of people speculate it's about Layne, but there isn't a lot of substantial evidence that this is so. Maynard has stated that it's about people who don't understand depression, although it is definitely not hard to see why people make the connection, considering how this song came out a year after Layne's death.

  9. Layne - Staind

    The title alone makes the subject fairly obvious. Granted, I'm not the biggest Staind fan, but this song is relatively okay. I decided to put it lower compared to some of the other tributes made about him.

  10. Shadow - Theory of a Deadman

    I am not a fan of TOAD in the slightest. This is one of their okay-ish songs, although that isn't saying a lot. This tribute is tolerable, but it doesn't really leave much of an impression on me, nor does it make me feel a lot.

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