There are surely few stranger ways to pay tribute to Layne Staley, one of hard rock's late frontmen, than with a song sung by Elton John. And yet that's what Alice in Chains have done, getting Sir Elton to play on the band's comeback record.
The idea was first proposed by a friend of singer-guitarist Jerry Cantrell. "I remember laughing and saying, 'Yeah, I'll get right on that,'" Cantrell said. "But I decided it was worth trying." As luck would have it, the glam balladeer turned out to be an "admirer" of Alice in Chains, and soon they were all together in a Las Vegas studio, recording the title track for Black Gives Way to Blue, with Sir Elton singing backing vocals and playing piano. "I was very flattered and couldn't resist," he said. "[It's] a beautiful song."
Black Gives Way to Blue is Alice in Chains' first album in more than a decade – and their first since Staley died in 2002. "It takes a big set of fucking balls — four sets of balls — to take on a challenge like this," Cantrell told Rolling Stone earlier this year. "We did it for the same reasons we made music before."
For the title track – "a real, raw, open-hearted song" – the band added a fifth set of balls – Sir Elton's. "He is a huge influence on me as a songwriter and having him on that song is an amazing honour for us," Cantrell said. "Walking into a studio and seeing the sheet music for that song on Elton's piano made it meaningful on so many different levels. The whole experience was pretty magical."
Unfortunately, Sir Elton will not be joining Alice in Chains on tour. Instead, the band will continue to work with new singer William DuVall. But "there is no fucking replacing [Layne]", Cantrell insisted.
Black Gives Way to Blue will be released on 29 September.