Mike Starr 1966-2011
Sad News from Salt Lake City. Original Alice in Chains bass player Mike Starr passed away this past Tuesday. Found at 1 PM by friend and lead singer from "Days of the New" Travis Meeks. Star had been struggling with sobriety and seemed to be winning but was still using prescription meds. 3 weeks earlier he'd been arrested for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. Starr appeared on Season 3 of Celebrity Rehab and clearly had issues not only with substance abuse, but a violent and abusive temperament while detoxing, and a lot of deep regret over the loss of Alice In Chains vocalist and his close friend Layne Staley.
Mike left the band during their tour supporting the album dirt. For years I'd wondered why he'd dropped out of the band and would occasionally google him (before celebrity rehab) and could never find anything on him...I was shocked to see him pop back up and then immediately saddened by seeing him in the throws of such heavy addiction, the stories of doing drugs with his dad, ripping off fans for money, blowing all his royalties, it was just weird and sickening stuff to hear and see.
Drugs suck period.
It's a wasted life all around...Layne threw it all away as well....and it's such a shame.
In a statement, the band said: “Members of Alice in Chains are mourning the loss of their friend and ask that the media respect their privacy – and the privacy of the Starr family – during this difficult time. Their thoughts and prayers are with the Starr family.”
I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Layne one on one at a sound check while the band was touring for Facelift...a really nice sweet guy...he hung out with myself and a friend of mine and talked about how excited he was to start their next tour which was playing with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax of all bands on a new tour touted "Clash of the Titans" (1991)...very similar to the BIG FOUR tour going on now but 20 years earlier...and obviously without Metallica.
Such talent taken away far too soon. We'll always have the old albums to go back and enjoy, but it would have been great to have more.
RIP Mike.
(written by boyinblack80)
It just sucks that Mike really couldn't shake his demons. As much help as he has gotten over the years, I just think it was all for naught with him constantly reliving the guilt over Layne. No amount of therapy was ever going to erase that and unfortunately, Mike really never stood a chance at conquering his drug addiction. :(
ReplyDeleteyou have to also realize most addicts will latch onto anything as an excuse to do drugs or drink alcohol. I think some of it is just a self destructive nature that probably boils down to genetics. If you look at Layne I believe his dad committed suicide or was a heavy drug user (which seems more accurate after some checking around online, he was told his dad was dead...but was more of a junkie type that the family disowned)...Kurt Cobain also has suicide run in his family(two uncles on his mother's side killed themselves)...
ReplyDeleteso it's a sad case of the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
genetics is stronger pull than a lot of things...and dictates the pace and actions of a lot of peoples live....BUT it doesn't have to...some people clearly embrace those 'bad' habits and I think it's a mental disintegration more than anything/
history repeating itself over and over....weak minded people sadly enough...it's not their fault...but you can't make someone change who doesn't want to.
so I agree with what you said 100%
This is a little off topic here, but I think with Mike's passing, all this does is confirm that Celeb Rehab, although entertaining to watch, is nothing but a joke. Dr. Drew's credibility will no doubt take a huge hit here. Not that he had any to begin with.
ReplyDeleteBut I think the idea of Celeb Rehab has nothing to do with getting and keeping their patient clean and sober. How can anyone really succeed here when they are only there for our amusement and getting paid what little they offer them and the promise that the show will revive their careers?
I think that any of the former celeb's and any future participants of the show really need to look closely at why they are doing the show. Are they there to actually help themselves battle addiction? Or are they just there for one last shot at reviving their careers?
Pretty much the bulk of everyone that has done the show has fallen off the wagon. So it's clear that the show itself is not the answer and that they need to seek out real, professional help with no cameras around so that they can finally beat this once and for all, if that's even possible.
I heard they get paid to be on the show....good idea give down and out drug addicts a chance to get a nice big hit of cash and the pressure of being on tv and having that stress....stress never leads addicts to do drink or drugs.
ReplyDeletepretty lame.
Howard Stern has called him out on that exact thing as did Artie Lange who nearly killed himself with drugs and then a botched suicide attempt....but Artie basically went off on Dr. Drew...and said "if you really cared you would be putting these people on tv"
Drew is smart enough to pontificate and talk in circles...he's a nice looking man which sounds dumb but he's not like a Rod Blagojevich , where people seem him and dislike him at a surface level right off the batt...Drew seems cool, but he's as Hollywood and narcissistic as all the rest.
He'd deny it though and do it very gracefully.
I wonder who will be on the show next that is aware of what happened to Mike and actually call out Dr. Drew on an episode.
ReplyDeleteAll the patient's seem to have a meltdown one time or another and wants to throw in the towel on their sobriety. This would be the time and place to put Dr. Drew in his place when he goes on and on about the virtues of his method.
Personally, I'd like to see someone call him out and really make him think twice about how he is "helping" them.
But I'm sure that either Drew or VH1 would edit that stuff out anyway.