“This man gave me my first break. I owe him everything.” Mike Inez (Inez previously played with Ozzy from 1989 to 1993.) Photo was taken at Copenhell Festival in 2018. RiP Ozzy

Alice in Chains covered Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf” on August 22, 1991, in Cincinnati, OH.

Black Sabbath was one of Layne Staley’s earliest and most significant musical influences, shaping the heavy and dark sound of Alice in Chains. Staley approached music by listening to his parents’ collection, which included Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.

While mixing Ozzy’s “Live & Loud” in Reno, Mike Inez got a call from Sean Kinney asking him to fill in at Rock in Rio. Inez asked Ozzy first—who replied “If you don't go, we're gonna have to go to the hospital.— It's gonna take them about a week to get my foot out of your ass.”

Alice in Chains And in turn, Ozzy thought quite a bit of Alice In Chains. He included Facelift in his list of ten favorite metal albums.

“Would?”

“Man in the Box”

“Down in a Hole”

Cantrell & Staley at the Lollapalooza show, Metrolina Expo Trade Center, Charlotte, NC OTD July 24, 1993. 📷 Thomas Baldwin

Layne Staley | July 1993 📷 John Lynn Kirk

AiC top streamed songs on Spotify: Man in the Box Would? Nutshell Rooster Them Bones Down In A Hole No Excuses We Die Young I Stay Away Heaven Beside You Check My Brain Bleed The Freak Rotten Apple Dam That River Don't Follow Rain When I Die Nutshell Unplugged What’s yours?

“We Die Young”

“Them Bones”

“It Ain’t Like That”

Alice in Chains “Voices” was released as a single OTD July 26, 2013 for online streaming, and to radio stations on July 29, 2013. The song is from their fifth studio album, “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here.” A photo of Layne Staley appears in the music video.