Jerry Cantrell wrote rock star as his childhood ambition in a Dr. Seuss book
As soon as he could write, Jerry Cantrell filled in the line about what he wanted to be when he grew up in a Dr. Seuss activity book: rock star. He went on to found Alice in Chains, whose records sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and whose sound leaned on his harmonies with Layne Staley.
Born in Tacoma, Washington, on March 18, 1966, he grew up largely in Spanaway. His father, a Vietnam combat veteran, came home when Jerry was three, and the strain of war ended the marriage four years later; the family then lived on welfare and food stamps. He later wrote Rooster as a tribute to his father, who appeared with him in the video, and named his publishing company Rooster's Son.
He played clarinet until a boyfriend of his mother's showed him a few guitar chords in sixth grade, and he learned by ear. In high school he sang in and eventually led the choir, which performed Gregorian chants he later credited for his taste in dark sounds; when Alice in Chains' first album went gold, he sent gold records to his choir and drama teachers. His grandmother and then his mother died of cancer within months of each other in 1986 and 1987.
Three weeks after his mother's death he saw Staley sing with a band called Alice N' Chains. Homeless soon afterwards, he moved into Staley's rehearsal space, and the two formed a new group; to win Staley over, the others staged dreadful auditions, ending with a male stripper. When Cantrell handed Axl Rose a demo in 1988 he watched it go in the bin, yet Guns N' Roses picked Alice in Chains to open their 2016 reunion tour.
Signed to Columbia on September 11, 1989, the band released Facelift in 1990, which Cantrell dedicated to his mother. Staley encouraged him to sing, starting with the 1992 EP Sap, and after Staley's death in 2002 Cantrell took lead vocals on later albums. He has earned nine Grammy nominations with the band, and Metal Hammer dubbed him Riff Lord in 2006.
Source: Jerry Cantrell
