Jerry Cantrell first came to prominence as a member of Alice in Chains, one of the prototypical Seattle grunge bands. With their 1990 debut Facelift, the quartet scored a surprise hit with the ultra-heavy "Man in the Box," and haven't looked back since. Racking up such hit albums as 1992's Dirt and 1995's self-titled release, the band rose to the top of the alterna-metal heap. Lead singer Layne Staley couldn't cope with the pressure of their enormous success, and sank further and further into substance abuse. Due to Staley's problems, the band has to date been unable to mount a substantial tour since 1993's Lollapalooza, and the rest of the band understandably got a little antsy.