Anti-racism and Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains is one of our favorite bands from home. The pain of Layne Staley's tragic death was so much that we did not listen to Alice in Chains for at least a couple of years after his passing. Surely their CD's would eventually be put back into the CD players both in the automobiles and home.

As many know, Alice in Chains has a new lead singer and they have been touring and doing quite well. We have not been able to see them yet, but certainly look forward to watching them perform in the future.

Now the lead singer is William Duvall, who replaced former front man, Layne Staley. Duvall is a very talented Black vocalist and does a very fine job of covering the older AIC songs originally sang by Staley:

In watching videos on Youtube and checking out the comments, we find ourselves saddened by many of the hate comments that are also racist, ranging from making fun of Duvall and the band to suggesting he is a disgrace to Staley. Anybody whose a serious AIC fan would know Staley would feel quite differently and be pleased that the band is carrying on with high quality, and performing their songs well. He would be pleased with the choice. He would be saddened by the racism, hate and intolerance, displayed by their own fans. For anybody who disagrees, see Layne's response to a Nazi supporter in their audience below:

RIP Layne, and cheers to both the old and new Alice in Chains!