Former Alice In Chains bassist, Mike Starr died yesterday in Utah. Mike was previously on Celebrity Rehab. I have not watched every season of the show and did not watch his entire season, but I think I remember one episode about him. Was he the guy on the show that towards the end of the season got to play a concert? It had been so long since he played and he was so nervous and I thought the guy was going to start using again right then and there. This shows that Celebrity Rehab should be still rehab. I don't think Mike did it for a paycheck, he did it because he wanted to get better. Now the show has become a parody of itself and I have beaten that horse to death. I wish that he could have recovered. He had so much talent and it is sad to see him gone.
RIP I felt so bad for him when he was tweaking and paranoid
ReplyDeleteand he seemed so genuine about his castmates :(
amen
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHe always felt so guilty about Layne Staley's death. Was the death drug-related? I really hoped he'd remain sober. RIP, Mike.
ReplyDelete@Momster: The reports I read didn't have cause of death, but he was recently arrested in Utah and had drugs on him :-(
ReplyDeletePS: Dr. Drew posted this: "Devastating to hear of Mike Starr succumbing to his illness. So very sad. Our prayers are with his family,"
ReplyDeleteYes, both deaths (Laine and Mike) were drug-related. I rooted for him so much on Celebrity Rehab. I remember the episode when Laine's mom came out to visit Mike, right around the time when he was struggling the most. This is so sad - one of my favorite bands.
ReplyDeleteBig Alice in Chains fan here ... Mike & Layne are somewhere right now making some kick-ass music together. :-(
ReplyDeleteI agree....they are both in heaven making great music and rockin
DeleteWe were upset by this last night--my partner and I watch Celebrity Rehab pretty religiously, not just for the trainwrecks (Carrie Ann, Heidi Fleiss, are you listening?) but also for the people who are truly trying to find a path in life that is not self destructive (Seth, Rodney King). Mike Starr was definitely in that last category. Even when he was behaving poorly--and like all addicts (and for that matter, humans), he did behave poorly at times---his sincere desire to get clean and to love and be loved always showed through. Rest in Peace, Mike. You deserve to have some at long last. I only wish you could have found it here on Earth.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Celeb Rehab has become a parody. Every season Drew & the staff make it clear a percentage of all addicts die beucase rehab doesn't always work. It is't touted as a quick fix or miracle cure. It is as honest as honest can be within the confines of a reality show.
ReplyDeleteDr. Drew stopped Sober House beucase he felt he had no control over it and got to drama based for tv over actually helping people. He does have some morals.
What a shame. His heyday with Alice in Chains was very early on, and I always felt (his was the one season I watched) that he was hanging onto it even though he had not been around for most of the band's years. He seemed to have trouble moving on. He also seemed to be permanently, physically affected by drug use. Sad.
ReplyDelete:-(
ReplyDeletesad!
ReplyDeletemixing methodone and anxiety meds, so sad....rip.
ReplyDeleteVery sad. I watched that season of Rehab too. Wish he could have pulled out of it. I think if you keep up the drugs for a long time that the brain just gets so damaged that it can't recover. I'm sad he didn't make it. I'll think of him up there with all the others before him.
ReplyDeleteRIP Mike. He came back last season to speak to the cast about his sobriety and he looked healthy and really great. I was so happy for him, and now this. I hope he is at peace now.
ReplyDeletefelt so sad for this guy. He seemed like such a genuine guy. RIP Mike.
ReplyDeleteJulie: that episode really touched me. It looked like he had beaten the drugs and he looked so healthy. The season he was on he looked like he was knocking on death's door. I couldn't believe it was the same person.
ReplyDeleteThis is really sad, and sadly, not surprising.
ReplyDeleteBack before funding was cut in the
ReplyDelete70's there were some long term rehabs available. A lot of people need far more than 28 days. I think it's a miracle when there is success in that short time. Such sad news. RIP Mike Starr
this is fucked up. i'm a huge alice in chains fan (the Layne years) and i was rooting for him to get better, also. everytime i saw him on the show, i saw a little piece of myself, especially with the whole blaming himself for Layne's death. definitely been down that road.
ReplyDeletethe upside is...he's not suffering with that disease anymore and he's reunited with his best friend.
I've watched every season of Celebrity Rehab and truly love the show. Some of the participants are only there for publicity and play things up for the cameras (Eric Roberts, I'm looking at you) but there were many others who genuinely wanted to get better. Mike was genuine and I cried last season when he came back to encourage the newbies.
ReplyDeleteI was not an AIC fan but I am a huge Mike Starr fan and this makes me super sad.
I hope Dr. Drew continues doing what he's doing. He is making a difference.
RIP Mike.
I was shocked when I saw this today. I watched him on Celebrity Rehab (don't really watch the show) but he pulled me in.
ReplyDeleteI was devastated when I heard he had been busted recently because it meant that he wasn't clean anymore. Even though that happened, I certainly wasn't expecting to see him pass away so soon.
And yes Enty, I appreciate that you put a flattering photo up and not the most recent mugshot or a frame grab from Celebrity Rehab.
I have to say I like Celebrity Rehab. Most of my friends turn up their noses at it, however, having helped my son through his own heroin addiction, I think it's a very human and real depiction of addicts ... who just happen to be celebrities. I HATE reality shows, unless it's some show like American Pickers, where the only thing exploited is some old farm guy with a magic rake, but I think CR actually serves a positive purpose. And Dr Drew is infinitely well qualified. The "addicted to love" (or "addicted to celebrity daughter whoring," as with Daddy Whorebucks Lohan), REALLY stretches the limits of "addiction," Dr Drew still deals with the situation like a substance-related addiction. Important information comes out of it.
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, Mike Starr seemed like a very real, personable, gentle soul. He bonded rather quickly with Tom Sizemore. We can hope this loss will be added incentive to Tom to stay clean.
has Tom been clean? I forgot about that friendship that was forged.
ReplyDeleteIf you "don't really watch the show," how did you know about the "forged friendship"? lol
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't forged, they were rehab pals, that's different than an actual friendship.
He's in the afterlife version of Temple Of The Dog with Andy & Layne now. RIP
ReplyDeletethis man was never gonna get clean. he had problems not movin on with his life, and leaving all of that "recapturing the alice and chains success" behind.
ReplyDeletehe always introduced himself to people as "mike starr from alice and chains". the band kicked him out almost at the "beginning" of their success.
i agree with rocket, you could tell the drugs did some permanent damage to his brain.
rip. now his friends and loved ones do not have to wonder where he is anymore.
melody, I did say that I watched when he was on. I was simply indicating that I am not a regular viewer of every season, like say, I was with Lost.
ReplyDelete@C. Anton - Wow. Tact, much? Baconfucker.
ReplyDeleteRIP
ReplyDeleteand you won't make it either. you're barely hanging on, eh?
ReplyDeleteHuge Alice fan. I know I shouldnt be shocked by his death but I am. I was hoping and praying he would make it not only for himself but for Layne. No doubt he is partying in heaven with Layne, Demri and Andy now, no longer suffering.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm not sure why people keep saying he was kicked out of the band before their success; that's not true. He was a founding member. He was around for Facelift, Sap AND DIRT, argueably their most popular and successful album. The only two albums he wasnt on was the EP Jar of Flies and their self titled album. The band only really toured with Mike Inez for roughly a year before the cancellation of the Metallica tour and they didnt play again for almost 3 years until Unplugged then only like 5 or 6 of the KISS shows before they cancelled the rest and Layne went into "hiding".
What Lindsey just said- she is right, he was most definitely an integral member of AIC, their history is quite convoluted in terms of who's in/who's out due to... drug use. They were a really good band, I would want to hang on to my crowning life achievement too.
ReplyDeleteShows like Celeb Rehab and Intervention make me uncomfortable because I feel like that stuff should be private and I'm intruding by watching. Also I don't enjoy seeing people do things to themselves that have cost me now 12 members of my undergrad class of 2000 (for real-- and its almost all opiates too). But I did watch a bit of this season of Celeb Rehab bc this guy pulled me in. My husband and I were already AIC fans from Facelift on, but this guy on the show seemed so geniune in his desire to get better and so human and not at all like I expected the kinds of people who are on Celeb Rehab to be that we actually engaged in watching him and put down the clicker and bberries. It was so, so upsetting to see the footage of him using with his father-- this guy was literally brought up surrounded by heroin. It was also so, so upsetting to see him so visibly struggling with his responsibility wrt Layne's passing-- anyone who has ever felt like they could have done something different and it would have made a life or death difference knows exactly what I mean.
RIP Mike. Temple of the Dog has just gotten an excellent new member but this should be a reminder to all the young folks out there who didn't grow up in the grunge era/live thru the loss of Kurt, Andy, Layne, and countless others that playing around w this sh*t gets you... dead. Even more so now that there are just as deadly prescription drugs avail now that were not then. Even the best specialists in the world (not saying Dr. Drew is one) can't guarantee a cure for this kind of dangerous illness.
**singing Nutshell in my head in memory of the original AIC/Mike**
I had a chance many MANY years ago to see Alice in Chains when they opened for Ozzy. To say that it was an awesome concert is an understatement.
ReplyDelete