- Mike Starr (musician)
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Mike Starr Birth name Michael Christopher Star Born April 4, 1966
Honolulu, HawaiiDied March 8, 2011 (aged 44)
Salt Lake City, UtahGenres Alternative metal, grunge, alternative rock, heavy metal Occupations Musician, bassist Instruments Bass guitar Years active 1984–2011 Associated acts Alice in Chains, Sun Red Sun, Days of the New, Gypsy Rose, SATO Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr (April 4, 1966 – March 8, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.[1]
Contents
Career
Before Alice In Chains, Starr was in two different bands. One went by the name of Gypsy Rose which included early Alice N' Chains producer Tim Branom. Before that, in 1983/'84, Starr was in a heavy metal band called SATO with whom he recorded the song "Leather Warriors" for the Northwest Metalfest compilation, released in 1984 by local Seattle label, Ground Zero Records.
In the mid 1980s, Jerry Cantrell began a band, which included drummer Sean Kinney and Starr on bass. Cantrell's roommate, singer Layne Staley, also agreed to join while having Cantrell join his funk project, which ended shortly thereafter. This band gained attention in the Seattle area playing under several different monikers before they eventually took the name Alice in Chains. The band was later signed to a record deal with Columbia Records and enjoyed extensive success via record sales and radio play in the grunge rock movement of the early 1990s. Starr was with the group for the Facelift and Dirt albums and the Sap EP. He was most often seen playing several variations of a Spector NS-2 bass guitar through an Ampeg SVT all-tube head and Ampeg 8x10" speaker cabinets.
Starr departed the group while it was touring behind the album Dirt. According to former singer Layne Staley, in a Rolling Stone article from February 1994, Starr's departure from Alice in Chains stemmed from "just a difference in priorities. We wanted to continue intense touring and press, Mike was ready to go home."[2] Starr, however, mentioned on an episode of Celebrity Rehab that he was kicked out of the band due to his budding drug addiction. The unreleased track "Misery, Crack Pipes, and Gothic Main Lines" from this timeframe makes allusion to Starr's use.
Starr later played bass for the band Sun Red Sun, which featured Ray Gillen and Bobby Rondinelli, both former members of Black Sabbath. The project was cut short by Gillen's death in 1993.
In 2010, Starr was reported to be working with his new band, which included touring with the band Days of the New.[3] This was cut short, however, with his sudden death.
Personal life
Starr was later featured in the third season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2010, which documented his treatment for methadone addiction beginning in August 2009 at the Pasadena Recovery Center. His subsequent stint staying in a sober living environment was then documented on the spinoff Sober House. He and fellow recovering addicts Mackenzie Phillips and Tom Sizemore appeared in the eighth episode of Celebrity Rehab's fourth season to provide testimonials about their recovery to that season's patients. During this appearance, Starr marked six months and seven days of sobriety.
Both Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney criticized the show Celebrity Rehab, calling it "disgusting". However, they stopped short of criticizing their former bandmate and expressed hope that Starr would turn his life around. Kinney also thanked Starr along with all other members of Alice In Chains both past and present within the liner notes of Alice in Chains' Black Gives Way to Blue album.
"I totally back Mike and I back his efforts to get clean and remain somebody that I and the band really care about — he’s a friend of ours, you know, and we wish him the best." - Jerry Cantrell[4]
"So I don't support that show at all and I think it's pretty disgusting. But Mike getting his life together or anybody doing that, I'll support that." - Sean Kinney[5]
On February 18, 2011, Starr was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance (six pills of Oxymorphone, and six pills of Alprazolam) in Salt Lake City, Utah. TMZ stated that Starr tried to use the celebrity tactic by saying "Hey officer, have you ever heard of the band Alice In Chains? Well I'm the bassist for them". Starr was released a few days later after showing proof of a prescription.[6][7]
Death
On March 8, 2011, at 1:42pm, police were called to a home in Salt Lake City where they found 44-year-old Starr's body.[8][9] A private memorial was held for Starr at Experience Music Project in Seattle on March 20, 2011. There were roughly 400 people in attendance, including former bandmates Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney, according to Mike Inez. According to Tom Sizemore in an interview on The Howard Stern Show, toxicology tests eventually showed that the cause of death was actually surprisingly small amounts of the prescription drug, Xanax, and alcohol.
Discography
With Alice in Chains
- We Die Young (1990)
- Facelift (1990)
- Sap (1992)
- Dirt (1992)
- Music Bank (1999)
- Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999)
- Live (2000)
- Greatest Hits (2001)
- The Essential Alice in Chains (2006)
With Sun Red Sun
- Sun Red Sun (1993)
References
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas; Prato, Greg. "Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3520. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "The Real Dirt". Rolling Stone. Archived by gsg2007.de. February 24, 1994. http://aic.gsg2007.de/Artikel/RS%201994.html. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ Downey, Ryan J. (2011-03-08). "Ex-Alice In Chains Bassist Mike Starr Found Dead". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1659474/alice-in-chains-mike-starr-dead.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ^ "Jerry Cantrell Of Alice In Chains Slams Dr. Drew’s Celeb Rehab". KROQ-FM (CBS Radio, Inc.). February 21, 2010. http://kroq.radio.com/2010/02/21/jerry-cantrell-of-alice-in-chains-slams-dr-drews-celeb-rehab/.
- ^ "Alice in Chains Drummer Slams 'Celebrity Rehab' as 'Disgusting'". WMMR (Greater Media). February 18, 2010. http://www.wmmr.com/music/news/story.aspx?ID=1198068.
- ^ "Ex 'Celebrity Rehab' Rocker Nabbed in Drug Bust". TMZ. February 17, 2011. http://www.tmz.com/2011/02/17/mike-starr-celebrity-rehab-alice-in-chains-drugs-controlled-substance-arrest-bust-salt-lake-city-utah/#comments-anchor.
- ^ "'Celeb Rehab' Rocker -- Busted with Prescription Pills", TMZ, February 18, 2011
- ^ Quinn, Ben (March 9, 2011). "Mike Starr, legendary Alice in Chains bass player, found dead". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/09/mike-starr-alice-in-chains-dies.
- ^ Goodman, Dean (March 8, 2011). "Former Alice in Chains rocker Mike Starr dies". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/09/us-aliceinchains-idUSTRE72802X20110309.
External links
Alice in Chains - Layne Staley
- Mike Starr
Studio albums - Facelift
- Dirt
- Alice in Chains
- Black Gives Way to Blue
Extended plays Live albums Compilations Video albums Singles - "We Die Young"
- "Man in the Box"
- "Bleed the Freak"
- "Sea of Sorrow"
- "Would?"
- "Them Bones"
- "Angry Chair"
- "Rooster"
- "What the Hell Have I"
- "Down in a Hole"
- "No Excuses"
- "I Stay Away"
- "Don't Follow"
- "Got Me Wrong"
- "Grind"
- "Heaven Beside You"
- "Over Now"
- "Again"
- "Get Born Again"
- "Fear the Voices"
- "A Looking in View"
- "Check My Brain"
- "Your Decision"
- "Lesson Learned"
Other songs Related articles - Discography
- Personnel
- Alice N' Chains
- Alice Mudgarden
- Mad Season
- Singles (soundtrack)
- Spys4Darwin
- Comes with the Fall
Book:Alice in Chains
Category:Alice in Chains
Portal:Heavy metal
Categories:- 1966 births
- 2011 deaths
- Alice in Chains members
- American heavy metal bass guitarists
- American bass guitarists
- People from Honolulu, Hawaii
- Grunge musicians
- Musicians from Hawaii
- People self-identifying as substance abusers
- Drug-related deaths in Utah
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