![]() Unlike Nirvana’s segment, Alice in Chains performed some of the band’s hits, such as “Rooster,” “No Excuses,” “Heaven Beside You” and “Would?”, while also featuring deeper cuts as well.Ĭlick here to pick up Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged on CD from our Rock Cellar StoreĬlick here to shop Alice in Chains from our Rock Cellar Store The end result was a captivating Unplugged performance that has gone on to be considered one of Nirvana’s crowning achievements in its existence - made possible by Cobain’s refusal to just “play the hits,” a testament to his point of view as the so-called “spokesman of a generation” who rejected that title.Īlice in Chains’ MTV Unplugged performance was recorded in April 1996 and eventually aired on July 30 of that year. There was no “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” no “In Bloom,” instead a collection of some of Cobain’s personally influential songs, like The Vaselines’ “Jesus Don’t Want Me For a Sunbeam,” “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” by Leadbelly and David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World,” the Meat Puppets’ “Plateau, deeper Nirvana tracks like “Something In the Way” and more. Originally released 25 years ago today, 'MTV Unplugged In New York' is now available digitally & as a 2LP set, including five rehearsal performances previously only available on DVD. The band’s Unplugged performance was notable for the band’s steadfast decision to play anything but many of their hits. It aired in December on MTV and was eventually released as a live album in December 1994 - a posthumous tribute to Cobain. Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York was filmed in the fall of 1993, just months before Cobain was found dead. The presences of both singers were key factors in Nirvana and Alice in Chains’ rise in prominence in the 1990s, but it was each band’s MTV Unplugged performance that showed the true power of Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley as artists - tortured artists, but artists nonetheless.Ĭlick here to pick up Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York on CD from our Rock Cellar StoreĬlick here to shop Nirvana from our Rock Cellar Store Eight years later, on April 5, 2002, Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley passed away after an overdose on cocaine and heroin - also dying in Seattle.īoth Cobain and Staley were known for pained lyrics expressing the deepest and most intense of emotions, stemming from their respective tumultuous life experiences and addictions. On April 5, 1994, Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain died by suicide in Seattle. ![]() Footage of the band's entire 47-minute swan song - capped by an intense take on "Man in the Box" - has since found its way to YouTube, where it serves as a bittersweet memorial to the singer.Today’s date, April 5, is notorious in the world of rock and roll, as it’s the date commemorating the passing of two of the most iconic and celebrated singers of all time, Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley. Things seemed hopeful on April 10th, 1996, when Staley reunited with the band for an MTV Unplugged show, but the comeback was ultimately short-lived: Less than three months later, on July 3rd, Alice in Chains took the stage at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, for what would be their final performance with Staley, who, in retrospect, was clearly not in great shape, though he forged through the set admirably. Staley's struggles with heroin and cocaine were public knowledge long before his 2002 passing as a result of the singer's addiction, the band was unable to tour behind its most successful release to date (1995's eponymous LP), performing only intermittently. ![]() ![]() Alice in Chains frontman and grunge pioneer Layne Staley, one of the most iconic singers in modern rock history, was just 34 when he suffered an overdose in his Seattle condo, bringing his burgeoning career - and his decades-long battle against substance abuse - to a tragic conclusion. ![]()
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