By Robyn Collins
“It’s been a horrible year and it’s really unfortunate to have lost those guys because they were both great people, both very good friends and amazing talents. It still doesn’t seem real,” Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell told talk show host Rich Eisen, about his friends Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington.
“It’s just an unexpected thing and we’ve been through it personally [with Alice in Chains], so we kind of know what that’s all about,” Cantrell went on. He was referring to the death of frontman Layne Staley in 2002.
“All you can really do is just let everybody know that you love them and be there for them and also to remember them in a good light instead of bad moment. Because they had great lives and they were quality people,” he continued.
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“We had so many landmark moments in life together with Chris. And I didn’t know Chester as well, but we’ve done a lot of charity work with he and his band’s charity. It’s really sad to see that sort of thing happen. You just try to be there for them and to be supportive.”
“I think everybody has dark thoughts,” the guitarist revealed. “I think depression and addiction and many other issues, they’re all linked. I have some of them myself. I’m an alcoholic as well, so I’ve dealt with a lot of those issues myself and we’ve lost a lot of friends and bandmates to that.”
“But there are a lot of people that get through, that deal, and so, I guess, basically [we] are trying to reach out to them and also to be an example of ‘you can walk through that.’ Because a lot of people were there for us when we walked through our thing. So it’s family and it hurts and I’m really gonna miss them.”
Watch the full interview below.
