Despite rumors of drug addictions, constant conflict within the band and a few underappreciated songs and album releases, the 1990s hard rock band Alice in Chains will still go down in history books as one of the founding fathers of heavy metal within the era of grunge music. Donning black cutoff clothing and overgrown heads of hair, Alice in Chains blew through the ‘90s with hard guitar riffs scoring over 20 Billboard hits in just 10 years.Starting with the name Alice N Chains, vocalist Layne Staley had the rock band in mind since he was in high school. He met guitarist Jerry Cantrell in Seattle in 1987, and the two started working together on the band, changing its name to Alice in Chains before recruiting bassist Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney to join the group. Quickly rising above local performances, Alice in Chains signed with Columbia Records in 1989, slightly altering their sound to attract avid heavy metal listeners. The group released their first EP, We Die Young, in 1990, immediately followed by their debut full-length album Facelift. The album was a huge success, and opening gigs with Van Halen, Poison and Iggy Pop blasted Facelift into musical heaven, as the band's very first album went gold.1991's EP Sap scored with fans, as well, and 1992's Dirt went platinum despite Starr leaving the band and rumors surfacing about Staley's heroin addiction. After a stint performing at Lollapalooza in 1993, Alice in Chains released the EP Jar of Flies in 1994. It was the first EP to reach the number one slot on the charts, but the group laid low instead of touring. Alice in Chains continued to pump out hits through the ‘90s, but fell apart piece by piece until band members started going solo, finally hitting rock bottom when Staley died from a cocaine and heroin-induced overdose in 2002.