Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr – who has publicly struggled with drug addiction and appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab last year – has died. He was 44.
He was found dead in a Salt Lake City house Tuesday.
“It’s a terrible shock and tragedy,” his father tells
TMZ.
A spokesman for the Salt Lake City Police Dept. tells the Associated Press officers responded to call about a possible body at a residence southwest of downtown earlier in the afternoon. “There is nothing to indicate that this was foul play by another individual,” the spokesman said.
The medical examiner’s office will likely conduct an autopsy Wednesday; results of toxicology tests could take up to two months.
Three weeks ago, Starr was arrested in Salt Lake City on an outstanding warrant related to an earlier drugs charge, and was also carrying unauthorized prescription medications. One of the two arresting officers reported that Starr readily identified himself. “Hey officer, have you heard of Alice In Chains? I used to be the bass guitarist for them. We are down here in Utah . . . putting together a new band,” he told police, according to the
Salt Lake Tribune. (A court date had not yet been set.)
In a sad twist, Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley died from mixture of heroin and cocaine in 2002.
