In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Jerry Cantrell answered some fan questions, including who could replace William DuVall as the Alice In Chains singer.
“I don’t think we really ‘tried’ anybody,” the guitarist replied when someone asked whether they tried out any vocalists before reuniting. “We were just trying to figure out if we wanted to jam. We were jamming as friends, and we invited a few friends down to come play these songs.”
He continued, “The idea was to maybe just do a handful of shows and celebrate the music. I think we did that with Phil Anselmo and Pat Lachman from Damageplan at a gig.”
“But I knew William [DuVall] and he was part of my touring band for ‘Degradation Trip.’ We were already good friends and had performed a lot of the Alice stuff,” Cantrell shared about their choice of DuVall.
Alice In Chains’ lead singer Layne Staley died on April 5, 2002, at 34. He struggled with addiction for years and became reclusive before his death. By then, Alice In Chains had started moving on, with Cantrell releasing his solo album in 1998 and another, ‘Degradation Trip,’ just months after Staley’s death.
The band hired DuVall in 2006. DuVall had met Cantrell before, and they had performed together. Cantrell invited DuVall’s band to support his solo tour and during the tour. DuVall first performed with the band at their 2006 reunion concerts.
In a previous interview with SoundLounge, Cantrell reflected on hiring DuVall, explaining, “The way we have always gone about things before Will got here and since he’s been here has been really organic. We’ve just kind of followed our own thing and done things that felt right for our own reasons.”
“We’ve been really lucky to have a really long career doing that. There is no replacing, Layne, so we weren’t asking Will to come in and try to be Layne; we wanted him to be himself,” he added.
DuVall hinted in December that Alice In Chains has new projects planned for 2025, some of which have been announced. He’s open to making more records, either solo or with other bands.
