When it comes to the unique sonic DNA of Alice In Chains, few elements stand out more than the band's haunting vocal harmonies and emotionally charged delivery. While many of their grunge-era peers leaned heavily on singular frontmen, Alice In Chains quietly carved out a different path thanks to the collaborative power of Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell.
In a recent reflection on the band's history and dynamic vocal interplay, guitarist, co-vocalist, and primary songwriter Jerry Cantrell offered rare insight into how their signature dual-vocal style came to be — and why it remains one of the most defining traits of the Alice In Chains sound.
"I've always been a fan of bands that have multiple voices and multiple lead singers — people that can carry a tune and have a different palette," said Cantrell in the interview with Gibson TV as transcribed by Metal Injection. "It's something I always thought was kind of cool about our band that maybe a lot of other Seattle bands didn't have so much."
That difference helped distinguish Alice In Chains from their Seattle contemporaries like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. Instead of one frontman carrying the emotional load, Cantrell and Staley developed a vocal partnership that added depth, nuance, and raw power to their music. But for Cantrell, stepping up to the mic wasn't always part of the plan.
"I never really wanted to be a lead singer, ever. I just wanted to play guitar, write songs, and sing backups. Partly just because it's a lot easier to do that. And secondly, we had Layne Staley. I don't need to be singing anything — he's got it covered. I've still never heard anybody that sounds like him, and I never will. It's really cool to have been in a band with him and to have created the music that we did together. He had his own thing. He didn't sound like anybody, and nobody really sounds like him."
Layne Staley's voice was unmistakable—gritty, soulful, and devastating in its emotional reach. But it was Staley himself who encouraged Cantrell to step into a larger vocal role, particularly during the early days of Alice In Chains.
"I remember having a couple of conversations with Layne, especially on the first EP, because that was pretty much my first experience of singing lead. He was like, 'Man, these are your lyrics. No offense, but they probably mean more to you than they do to me. I love singing them and all that, but they're your words. You should sing some of these.' And I was like, 'I really don't want to sing them, man. I'm not as good a singer as you. You're great. You just keep singing.'
"And he was like, 'No, you should really try.' I started to eventually sing more and more, and that kind of just kept happening. So we became more of a tandem — instead of me just being a backup singer to Layne's lead singer, we started to get a little bit closer, carrying the weight together, and also having the versatility of having a couple of different voices."
That evolution gave rise to some of Alice In Chains' most iconic moments—from the harmonized anguish of "Down in a Hole" to the melodic heaviness of "No Excuses."
"The cool thing about it is the way that we sang together — the two of our voices kind of made a bigger voice. Sometimes you can totally tell when it's him, you can totally tell when it's me, but a lot of times when we sang together, you can't tell which one is which. It kind of makes a… it makes a thing."
