Former Alice in Chains bassist found dead
Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr pictured in an undated video still from VH1’s “Sober House.”
Mike Starr, the former bass player of influential grunge band Alice in Chains, has been found dead at a house in Salt Lake City in Utah. He was 44.
He was found on Tuesday by police responding to a call about a body found on the premises, The cause of death has not been confirmed but there was no sign of foul play, The Salt Lake City Tribune reported.
According to TMZ.com, Starr's father Mike called his son's death "a terrible shock and tragedy."
A statement on the official Alice in Chains wesbite said band members were "mourning the loss of their friend."
Starr was an original member of the group when it formed in 1987 to become an integral part of the emerging Seattle grunge scene alongside acts like Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
He left in 1993 after contributing to their "Dirt" album released a year earlier. At the time of his death he was believed to be putting together a new band, according to music news site NME.
Starr had fought a public battle with drug addiction, making an appearance on the U.S. reality show "Celebrity Rehab" last year as he tried to quit heroin.
The bassist is the second member of Alice in Chains to pass away following the death of singer Layne Stanley from a drug overdose in 2002.
— Barry Neild
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