Soundgarden had disbanded permanently the year before Alice in Chains formed.
Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label -LRB- A&M Records in 1988 -RRB- , though the band did not achieve commercial success until they popularized the genre in the early 1990s with Seattle contemporaries Pearl Jam , Nirvana , and Alice in Chains .	A&M	A&M Records	Pearl Jam	Pearl Jam	grunge	grunge	A&M Records	A&M Records	Nirvana	Nirvana (band)	Alice in Chains	Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle , Washington , in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley .	Jerry Cantrell	Jerry Cantrell	Layne Staley	Layne Staley	rock	Rock music	Seattle	Seattle	Washington	Washington (state)	Alice in Chains	Alice in Chains (album)
Matt Cameron became the band 's full-time drummer in 1986 , while bassist Ben Shepherd became a permanent replacement for Yamamoto in 1990 .	Matt Cameron	Matt Cameron	Ben Shepherd	Ben Shepherd
Cornell remained in Soundgarden until his death in May 2017 , putting the band 's future in doubt and leaving Thayil as the only remaining original member of the band .
In 1997 , the band broke up due to internal strife over its creative direction .
