Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell recently opened up about his late bandmate Layne Staley in an interview with Rick Beato.

“We liked a lot of the same music, but we also had very individualistic tastes,” Cantrell shared, highlighting their musical connection. “Things that he liked and things that I liked were ours, and then we shared a bunch in the middle. He had a really uncanny ability where he could, like, cop anybody’s accent just by hearing it once, or make a joke if he heard a line in a movie, and just verbatim repeat it. He had that kind of mimicry.”

Reflecting on their collaboration, he added, “But we shared that in common, and it’s something we created together, and [it] still makes me feel good to continue that, and makes me think of him. Of course, I miss him to death, but I appreciate the time we had, and the music we made together, and I carry on the tradition we started together.”

Recently, the band celebrated the 15th anniversary of their album Black Gives Way to Blue, their first studio release following Staley’s passing. The title track serves as a tribute to him, written and sung by Cantrell with Elton John accompanying on piano.

When the news broke in 2008 that the band had entered the studio for new music, some fans reacted negatively, perceiving it as a betrayal of Staley’s legacy.

“To continue that legacy, for us it’s a big move to f*cking stand up and move on,” drummer Sean Kinney remarked during another interview about the album. “The music connected so strongly with some people. It’s amazing that they have such a connection, but they seem to act like it happened to them. But this happened to us and Layne’s family, not them. This is actually our lives, so we appreciate that, but it’s irrelevant. If we can be OK with it, why can’t you? This happened to us; this didn’t happen to you.”