Alice In Chains were one of the big four of grunge alongside Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden. Similar to these other bands, though, Alice In Chains was not an overnight success. The band had years of fine tuning and performing to hone their sound.
Mike Starr was a big part of the refinement process. He was the bassist for Alice In Chains when it was launched in 1987, and he stayed with the band during their first wave of success in the early 90s. Unfortunately, Starr left from the band in 1993, following the release of the classic album Dirt.
The other members of the band, which included vocalist Layne Staley, lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell, and drummer Sean Kinney, opened up about Starr's exit during a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone. They claimed the bassist simply fell out of sync with what they wanted, and grew tired of the touring lifestyle.
Was Mike Starr fired from Alice In Chains?
"Just a difference in priorities," Staley told the outlet. "We wanted to continue intense touring and press, Mike was ready to go home." The more time has worn on, however, the more reasons have been floated as to why Starr left.
Revolver Magazine suggested that Starr's buddying drug habit was an issue the other members of the band did not want to contend with. The bassist seemingly confirmed this during a 2010 interview with Loveline. Not only did he admit to shooting up heroin the night before his final Alice In Chains set, but he claimed to have done so with Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
Starr recalled bandmate Layne Staley waking him up because he'd nearly overdosed. "I wake up ... and [Layne] had me in the shower. I was flatlined," he recalled. "He’s crying and punching me in the face. I’m like, 'What’s wrong? What did I do?' [H]e’s like, ‘You were dead for 11 minutes, Mike.'"
How did Mike Starr die?
Starr joined the band Sun Red Sun shortly after leaving Alice In Chains, but the band's rise to fame was cut short by the death of lead singer Ray Gillen. The bassist struggled to find work in the years that followed. He didn't perform on another rock recording after Sun Red Sun's self-titled album in 1995.
Tragically, Starr's drug addiction would get the best of him. He was arrested for vandalism in 2005, for drug charges in 2009, and for an outstanding warrant in 2011. He tried to get sober on the TV series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2010, but it didn't take.
Starr was found dead on March 11, 2011, a month after his final arrest. His death was deemed the result of a prescription drug overdose. A memorial was held in his honor, and his former bandmates Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney attended (Staley died in 2002). Cantrell and Kinney have continued to pay tribute to Starr in concert and in song in subsequent years.