In many ways, Alice in Chains was the definitive heavy metal band of the early 1990s. Drawing equally from the heavy riffing of post-Van Halen metal and the gloomy strains of post-punk, the band developed a bleak, nihilistic sound that balanced grinding hard rock with subtly textured acoustic numbers. They were hard enough for metal fans, yet their dark subject matter and punky attack placed them among the front ranks of the Seattle-based grunge bands. While this dichotomy helped the group soar to multi-platinum status with their second album, 1992's Dirt, it also divided them. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell always leaned toward the mainstream, while vocalist Layne Staley was fascinated with the seamy underground. Such tension drove the band toward stardom in their early years, but following Dirt, Alice in Chains suffered from near-crippling internal tensions.

Staley formed the initial incarnation of the band while in high school in the mid-'80s, naming the group Alice 'N' Chains. Staley met Cantrell in 1987 at the Seattle rehearsal warehouse the Music Bank and the two began working together, changing the group's name to Alice in Chains. Cantrell's friends Mike Starr (bass) and Sean Kinney (drums) rounded out the lineup,and the band began playing local Seattle clubs. Columbia Records signed the group in 1989 and the label quickly made the band a priority, targeting heavy metal audiences. In July 1990, the label released the We Die Young EP as a promotional device and the song became a hit on metal radio, setting the stage for the release of the group's debut album, Facelift, on 28 August 1990. Alice in Chains supported the album by opening for Van Halen, Poison, and Iggy Pop. The album became a hit, going gold by the end of the year. As the band prepared their second album, they released the largely acoustic EP Sap on 21 March 1992 to strong reviews.

Prior to the release of Alice in Chains' second album, Seattle became a media sensation thanks to the success of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. As a result, Alice in Chains was now marketed as an alternative band, not as a metal outfit, and the group landed a song, the menacing "Would?," on the Singles soundtrack during the summer of 1992. "Would?" helped build anticipation for Dirt, the group's relentlessly bleak second album that was released on 29 September 1992 to excellent reviews. Following its release, Starr left the band and was replaced by Mike Inez. Dirt went platinum by the end of 1992, but its gloomy lyrics launched many rumors that Staley was addicted to heroin. Alice in Chains soldiered on in the face of such criticism, performing successfully on the third Lollapalooza tour in 1993, which helped Dirt reach sales of three million.

The band released the low-key EP Jar of Flies on 25 January 1994. It debuted at number one upon its release, becoming the first EP to top the album charts. Despite the band's continued success, they stayed off the road, which fueled speculation that Staley was mired in heroin addiction. Later that year, Staley did give a few concerts as part of the Gacy Bunch, a Seattle supergroup also featuring Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, the Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin, and John Saunders. The group subsequently renamed itself Mad Season and released Above in early 1995. Alice in Chains re-emerged with an eponymous third album, released on 7 November 1995, which debuted at number one on the American charts. Again, the band chose not to tour, which launched yet another round of speculation that the band was suffering from various addictions and were on the verge of disbanding. On 10 April 1996, the band recorded a taping for MTV Unplugged at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Majestic Theater, New York City, NY. During the group's first live appearance since 7 January 1994, Alice in Chains debuted a new song, "Killer Is Me." The group then performed four concerts, opening for KISS on June 28 & 30 and July 2 & 3. Unplugged was released on 30 July 1996 and turned RIAA Platinum a month later. Despite the success of Unplugged, the album did nothing to dispel doubts about the group's future and neither did Cantrell's solo album, Boggy Depot, released on 31 March 1997.

Cantrell basically released Boggy Depot because he could not get Staley to work, but its very existence — and the presence of Inez and Kinney on the record, not to mention Alice in Chains producer Toby Wright — seemed to confirm that the group was on moratorium at best, defunct at worst. Staley, for his part, stayed quiet, conceding his spot on Mad Season's second album to Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan. Sony put together a three-disc Alice in Chains box set, Music Bank, divided between the group's best work and assorted rarities, which was released on 26 October 1999. Released on the same date, were an Unplugged DVD Special Addition and Music Bank: The Videos. On 13 November 2000, Columbia Records issued Live, which plucked material from bootlegs, demos, and festival shows covering the years 1990, 1993, and 1996.

As if the group hadn't been repackaged as many times as possible with its limited repertoire, a ten-track best-of set, Greatest Hits, appeared on 28 August 2001. With no sign of the group reclaiming their spot atop the alt-metal heap (and such copycat acts as Godsmack, Days of the New, Puddle of Mudd, and Creed taking the Alice in Chains formula to the top of the charts), Cantrell completed his sophomore solo effort, Degradation Trip, in 2002. But just two months before the album's release, in April 2002, the news that every Alice in Chains fan had been fearing for years had finally come to pass: Layne Staley was found dead due to a lethal overdose of cocaine and heroin (a combination referred to as a "speedball"). Although understandably grief-stricken, Cantrell launched his solo album's supporting tour according to schedule, opting to open shows in the summer for another Alice in Chains-influenced band, Nickelback.

On 21 February 2005, various musical artists and K-Rock radio station hosted a benefit concert for victims of the 2004 tsunami. The stars included Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Supersuckers, Sir Mix-A-Lot, The Children of the Revolution and others. But the four remaining Alice in Chains band members owned the show, performing an accoustic set, followed by a plugged-in set. Filling in for the late vocalist Layne Staley, Wes Scantlin from Puddle of Mudd, Pat Lachman from Damageplan and Ann Wilson shared microphone duties. Then, in a surprise, unannounced appearance, Maynard James Kennan, vocalist for Tool and A Perfect Circle, took the stage and sang "Man in the Box" and "Them Bones", proving to be a most natural fit at replacing Staley.