By Gene Johnson

Associated Press

SEATTLE — Layne Staley, lead singer for the grunge band Alice in Chains, was found dead in his apartment, authorities said Saturday. He was 34.

Tests were being conducted to determine the cause of death, the King County Medical Examiner’s office said. His body was found Friday evening, and he had apparently been dead for at least a few days.

"It was natural or an overdose — that’s the way it was determined by our investigators," said Seattle Police spokesman Duane Fish.

With Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, Alice in Chains was one of the most prominent bands of the Seattle grunge scene of the early ’90s.

"He was a sweet guy, but very troubled," said Charles Cross, a former editor of the defunct Seattle music magazine The Rocket who recently wrote a biography of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. "He lost his girlfriend to drugs a number of years ago. People still had hopes he would turn around. It’s a sad tale."

While Alice in Chains didn’t garner as much respect as Nirvana or several other local groups, the band’s influence still reverberates, Cross said.

"Critically, they’ll never rate in the same pantheon as Nirvana, but they were a band that inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of other bands," Cross said. He pointed to Creed and Godsmack, a band that took its name from an Alice in Chains song.

Chad Schuster, 21, a University of Washington student and guitarist in a garage band, came with other Alice and Chains fans to an impromptu memorial at Seattle Center.

He said the group’s music was very dark, but it was melodic and hopeful at the same time. "It was heavy metal that didn’t hurt your ears," Schuster said.

Staley, despite his well-documented drug problems, was an inspiration for many, Schuster said.

"He was open about his drug problem and his struggles with life, and I think a lot of people can relate to that."

Fan Lorn Conner, 18, a senior at Chrysalis High School in Woodinville who also came to the memorial site, was less forgiving.

"Seattle always produces so much talent, and they always end up messing it up," he said.

Staley’s voice ranged from a low baritone to a sustained, piercing wail; many a bar-band singer frayed vocal cords in the early 1990s trying to imitate it. Staley also played some guitar for the group.

In a 1996 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Staley spoke of how his drug use influenced his lyrics.

"I wrote about drugs, and I didn’t think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them," he told the magazine. "Here’s how my thinking pattern went: When I tried drugs, they were (expletive) great, and they worked for me for years, and now they’re turning against me — and now I’m walking through hell, and this sucks."

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