Mike Starr, last seen on the US MTV show ‘Celebrity Rehab’ in 2010, has died. At the time of writing, no details have been released regarding his cause of death, but police do not suspect foul play.
Starr will be best remembered as former bass player with Seattle legends Alice In Chains, playing bass on their first two (and arguably best) full length releases ‘Facelift’ and ‘Dirt’ (released in 1990 and 1992 respectively). Alongside Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ and Pearl Jam’s ‘Ten’, ‘Dirt’ become one of the biggest selling and best loved albums associated with the 90’s grunge phenomenon, eventually shifting three over million units in the US. The album also spawned three US Top Ten hit singles.
After leaving Alice In Chains shortly after the release of ‘Dirt’, Starr became a member of Sun Red Sun, a supergroup which also featured Ray Gillen of Badlands/Black Sabbath, ex-Rainbow/Black Sabbath drummer Bobby Rondinelli and Al B Romano (formally a member of Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna’s eponymous band).
Starr can be seen in the video-clips from the Alice in Chains VHS release ‘Live Facelift’ below: