Editing Alice in Chains (section)

===1996–2004: Hiatus, side projects and death of Layne Staley===
Although Alice in Chains never officially disbanded, Staley became a recluse, rarely leaving his Seattle condominium following the death of his ex-fiancée Demri Parrott on October 29, 1996.<ref name="record straight">{{cite web|url=https://icepicksandnukes.com/2011/12/16/setting-the-alice-in-chains-record-straight/ |title=Setting the Alice in Chains Record Straight |author=David de Sola |date=December 16, 2011 |access-date=April 9, 2018}}</ref> "Drugs worked for me for years," Staley told ''Rolling Stone'' in February 1996, "and now they're turning against me ... now I'm walking through hell and this sucks. I didn't want my fans to think that heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen."<ref name="To Hell and Back"/>

Unable to continue with new Alice in Chains material, Cantrell released his first solo album, ''[[Boggy Depot]]'', in 1998, also featuring Sean Kinney and Mike Inez.<ref name="AM">{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=Alice in Chains - Music Biography, Credits and Discography |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/alice-in-chains-mn0000007920 |access-date=September 22, 2012 |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=Rovi Corporation}}</ref> Cantrell and Kinney were also featured on [[Metallica]]'s 1998 album ''[[Garage Inc.]]'', both were guest musicians in the track "[[Tuesday's Gone]]", a [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] cover.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.metallica.com/releases/albums/4216/garage-inc |title=Garage Inc. |website=Metallica.com}}</ref> In October 1998, Staley reunited with Alice in Chains to record two new songs, "[[Get Born Again]]" and "[[Died (Alice in Chains song)|Died]]".<ref name="timeline" /> Originally intended for Cantrell's second solo album,<ref name="PopMatters2002">{{cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/feature/cantrell-jerry-021226/|title=Degradation Trip: An interview with Jerry Cantrell|author=Michael Christopher|work=PopMatters|date=December 26, 2002|access-date=November 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024122126/http://www.popmatters.com/feature/cantrell-jerry-021226/|archive-date=October 24, 2014}}</ref> the songs were reworked by Alice in Chains and were released in the fall of 1999 on a [[box set]], ''[[Music Bank (album)|Music Bank]]''. The set contains 48 songs, including rarities, demos, and previously released album tracks and singles.<ref name="Music Bank" /> The band also released a 15-track compilation titled ''[[Nothing Safe: Best of the Box]]'', serving as a sampler for ''Music Bank'', as well as the band's first [[greatest hits|compilation]] album; a live album, simply titled ''[[Live (Alice in Chains album)|Live]]'', released on December 5, 2000; and a second compilation, titled ''[[Greatest Hits (Alice in Chains album)|Greatest Hits]]'' in 2001.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.aliceinchains.com/music.aspx| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628204951/http://www.aliceinchains.com/music.aspx| archive-date=June 28, 2006 |title=Alice in Chains.com – Discography |publisher=Aliceinchains.com |access-date=December 28, 2007}}</ref>

In November 1998, Layne Staley recorded a cover of [[Pink Floyd]]'s "[[Another Brick in the Wall]]" with the supergroup [[Class of '99]]. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 horror/[[Science fiction|sci-fi]] film, ''[[The Faculty]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Sola|first1=David|title=Alice in Chains: The Untold Story|date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1250048073|pages=277–279}}</ref>

After they toured as part of Cantrell's solo band in 1998, Sean Kinney and [[Queensrÿche]] guitarist [[Chris DeGarmo]] formed a new band called [[Spys4Darwin]]. Mike Inez and [[Sponge (band)|Sponge]] lead vocalist [[Vin Dombroski]] joined the supergroup soon after. The band released their first and only album in 2001, a 6-track EP entitled ''Microfish''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=104499&page=1 |title=Rockers Team Up in Spys4Darwin |date=May 31, 2001 |publisher=ABC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409122016/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=104499&page=1 |archive-date=April 9, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=April 9, 2018}}</ref> In June 2001, Mike Inez joined [[Zakk Wylde]]'s [[Black Label Society]] for the remaining dates of [[Ozzfest]], following the departure of bassist [[Steve Gibb]] for medical reasons.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1444508/zakk-wylde-taps-aics-inez-for-ozzfest/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125134944/http://www.mtv.com/news/1444508/zakk-wylde-taps-aics-inez-for-ozzfest/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 25, 2017 |title=Zakk Wylde Taps AIC's Inez For Ozzfest |date=June 14, 2001 |website=MTV News}}</ref> Inez joined the band again for their West Coast and Japanese tour in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/former-ozzy-alice-in-chains-bassist-to-tour-with-black-label-society/ |title=Former OZZY/ALICE IN CHAINS Bassist To Tour With BLACK LABEL SOCIETY |date=March 5, 2003 |website=Blabbermouth}}</ref>

By 2002, Cantrell had finished work on his second solo album, ''[[Degradation Trip]]''. Written in 1998, the album's lyrical content focused heavily on what Cantrell regarded as the demise of Alice in Chains, which still remained evident as the album approached its June 2002 release. However, in March that year, Cantrell commented, "We're all still around, so it's possible [Alice in Chains] could all do something someday, and I fully hope someday we will."<ref>{{cite web | last=Wiederhorn| first=Jon |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1452982/20020319/cantrell_jerry.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020621031745/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1452982/20020319/cantrell_jerry.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 21, 2002 | title=Jerry Cantrell Conjures Ghost Of Alice In Chains On New LP | publisher=MTV | date=March 20, 2002 | access-date=June 20, 2009}}</ref>

Reflecting on the band's hiatus in a 2011 interview, Kinney said that Staley wasn't the only one battling addiction. <blockquote>He was the focal point, like singers are. So they'd single him out. But the truth was, it was pretty much everybody. I definitely had my hand firmly on the wheel going off the cliff. And the reason we pulled back – you know when you stop when you have two #1 records, it's not really the greatest career move – but we did that because we love each other and we didn't want to die in public. And I know for a fact in my heart that if we were to continue that I wouldn't be on the phone right now talking to you. I wouldn't have made it. I just wouldn't have.<ref name="From The Ashes"/></blockquote>

After a decade of battling drug addiction, Layne Staley was [[Layne Staley#Death|found dead]] in his condominium on April 19, 2002. The autopsy and toxicology report revealed that he died from a mixture of heroin and cocaine, known as "[[Speedball (drug)|speedball]]". The autopsy concluded that Staley died on April 5, two weeks before his body was found.<ref name="report">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1453818/layne-staley-died-from-mix-of-heroin-cocaine-report-says/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502061245/http://www.mtv.com/news/1453818/layne-staley-died-from-mix-of-heroin-cocaine-report-says/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 2, 2014 |title=Layne Staley Died From Mix Of Heroin, Cocaine, Report Says |publisher=MTV |date=May 7, 2002|access-date=August 6, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Cross">{{cite news | first = Charles R. | last = Cross | title = The last days of Layne Staley; Alice in Chains singer dies at thirty-four after long battle with heroin | date = June 6, 2002 | work = ROLLING STONE no. 897}}</ref> Cantrell dedicated his 2002 solo album, ''Degradation Trip'', released two months after Staley's death, to his memory.<ref name="Roadrunner Cantrell">{{cite web| url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/artists/JerryCantrell/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119070122/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/artists/JerryCantrell/| archive-date=January 19, 2008 |title=Well Worth The Trip |date=December 24, 2002 |publisher=Roadrunner Records UK |access-date=December 7, 2007}}</ref> Mike Starr later claimed on ''[[Celebrity Rehab]]'' that he was the last person to see Staley alive, and admitted to feeling guilty about not calling 911 after Staley had warned him against it. "I wish I hadn't been high on [[benzodiazepine]] [that night], I wouldn't have just walked out the door," Starr said.<ref name="Rolling Stone 1994"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Former Alice in Chains rocker Mike Starr dies|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-aliceinchains-idUSTRE72802X20110309|publisher=Reuters|access-date=August 6, 2017|date=March 8, 2011}}</ref>

Following Staley's death, Mike Inez joined [[Heart (band)|Heart]] and toured and recorded with the band from 2002 through 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.heart-music.com/news?n_id=775 |title=Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart at Walk of Fame Star Ceremony |date=October 5, 2012 |website=heart-music.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920003847/http://www.heart-music.com/news?n_id=775 |archive-date=September 20, 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 9, 2018}}</ref> Jerry Cantrell collaborated with several artists such as Heart,<ref name="MTV News 2004">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1484923/jerry-cantrell-to-jam-with-alice-in-chains-bandmates/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115221334/http://www.mtv.com/news/1484923/jerry-cantrell-to-jam-with-alice-in-chains-bandmates/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 15, 2017|title=Jerry Cantrell To Jam With Alice In Chains Bandmates |work=MTV|date=February 8, 2004}}</ref> [[Ozzy Osbourne]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/former-alice-in-chains-guitarist-laying-down-tracks-for-new-ozzy-osbourne-album/|title=Former ALICE IN CHAINS Guitarist Laying Down Tracks For New OZZY OSBOURNE Album|website=Blabbermouth|date=August 16, 2004}}</ref> and [[Damageplan]].<ref name="MTV News 2004"/> In 2004, Cantrell formed the band Cardboard Vampyres along with [[The Cult]] guitarist [[Billy Duffy]], [[Mötley Crüe]] vocalist and [[Ratt (band)|Ratt]] guitarist [[John Corabi]], The Cult bassist [[Chris Wyse]] and drummer Josh Howser.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jeckell |first=Barry A. |url=http://www.glidemagazine.com/6063/jerry-cantrell-forms-new-band-cardboard-vampyres/ |title=Jerry Cantrell Forms New Band – Cardboard Vampyres |website=Glide Magazine |date=June 18, 2004}}</ref> On October 22, 2004, [[Sony BMG]] terminated their contract with Alice in Chains, 15 years after the band signed with the label, in 1989.<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Sola|first1=David|title=Alice in Chains: The Untold Story|date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1250048073|pages=323–324}}</ref>