Remembering...Mike Starr with Steel Panther

Former Alice in Chains bass player Mike Starr was found dead yesterday. We all know he fought his demons - he even went public with them on Celebrity Rehab. Some call Alice in Chains grunge. I maintain they are a metal band - and always were.

Whatever the case, Starr went the way of so many musicians before him - such a waste. Let's remember him Glam style...on stage with Steel Panther!

See what fellow musicians had to say about Starr's death.

Comments

[Brian L]

Gotta love Steel Panter. So sad to hear about this man's death.

I loved Alice in Chains when they first came out, but as time passed, i lumped them into the grunge..

[Bob]

Very sad to hear about Mike's death. AIC certain had more talent and more interesting songs than 95% of the grunge bands back then, but they still sounded like a grunge band to me, just a higher form of it.

[Stephen]

Grunge or not, AIC is my favorite band of that era. Starr's death is very tragic and is a testament of what will happen if you take the wrong path in life.

[Brianna Carranza]

I remembered mike , He wanted to Take my dad on a journey with him..
He was my dad's Bestest friend n its crazy ima miss u mike i'll remember u ...

[Sean]

i was at this show, was sad to hear the bad news :(

[puzzled]

YOU MIGHT WANNA CHECK OUT THAT STORY. THE STARR WE HAVE LOST IS MIKE - NOT MICHAEL!

[Roy]

So very sad.

[still puzzled]

They are 2 different people. Not the same person in both bands. They just have similar names. Who writes this stuff?!!

[Allyson]

@Puzzled,

Mike Starr was the bass player in Alice in Chains...as it says in the first sentence of this story. He died...while fighting his addictions.

Not so long ago, he jumped on stage with Steel Panther...the parody band that does feature a member named Michael Starr (really Ralph Saenz). No one is saying a member of Steel Panther died. Just that Mike Starr, formerly of AIC, got on stage for a fun night.

This is a Glam site - you've likely never been here before - so you should know everything we talk about is Glam or has a Glam connection. We like to keep things positive, too. The world is too full of negativity.

[Will]

Puzzled- perhaps you are puzzled because you just walk around confused. there isn't much puzzling about what this story is.

Its sad to hear about Mike Starr. Alice in Chains is head and shoulders the best band that came from that era, whatever anyone wants to call it. Great music and tunes.

Perhaps some other musicians can take this as a wake up call. Doubtful though

[Metalboy!]

I was lucky to see Mike perform with Alice In Chains, along with original singer, Layne Staley, when they opened for Extreme at the Cat Club NYC in 1991.

Needless to say, they blew Extreme completely off the stage.

It's interesting to note that Staley joined MIKE STARR, Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney in their GLAM METAL band, Diamond Lie. They eventually changed direction and renamed the band ALICE IN CHAINS.

No wonder they were catchier than anything on the Seattle Grunge scene, a scene they were unfairly lumped into because of their geographical origins.

To me, that's where the similarity ended.

These guys totally ROCKED out and were known for their Heavy Metal edge.

Mike Starr will, no doubt, be remembered as one of THE greatest REAL ROCK'n'ROLLERS of all time.

God Bless his family, bandmates and friends and God Bless and Godspeed to you, Mike -- you're with Layne now. May you both ROCK FOREVER in that great METAL band in the sky!

[Gator]

Glad to hear that you were a fan too, Metalboy. A lot of people aren't aware of their glam beginnings...

I am a huge Alice In Chains fan, and I can easily say that they are my favorite band of all time. Great hooks, heavy music, intelligent and thoughtful lyrics - they had it all, yet retained a healthy sense of humor. To this day, DIRT is a masterpiece.

Sorry to hear about Mike Starr, yet sadly not surprised. My sympathies go out to his family and friends. Rest in peace, Mike.