Elton John Gets With Alice In Chains
By: Bear Frazer
Last updated December 16th , 2009

Among the many highlights on Black Gives Way To Blue, the highly anticipated new album from ALICE IN CHAINS, is a special guest performance by Elton John. The two rock legends collaborated on the album's stunning title track, "Black Gives Way To Blue," a heart-stirring tribute to Alice In Chains' late lead singer Layne Staley. The album arrives in stores September 29.

"We were thinking about adding piano to the track and a friend suggested we call Elton," recalls guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell. "I remember laughing and saying, ‘Yeah, I'll get right on that.' But I decided it was worth trying and wrote Elton an email explaining what that song means to us—that it's a real, raw openhearted song for Layne. We sent him the track and got a call shortly after saying he thought it was beautiful and that he wanted to play on it. We were blown away. Elton John is a huge influence on me as a songwriter and having him on that song is an amazing honor for us."

"I've long been an admirer of Jerry Cantrell and when he asked me to play on ‘Black Gives Way To Blue,' I was very flattered and couldn't resist," says John. "It was a great recording session with Alice In Chains for a beautiful song. "

About the collaboration, Cantrell says, "Elton was finishing his Red Piano run in Vegas, so we flew there and hung out for a few hours. Walking into a studio and seeing the sheet music for that song on Elton's piano made it meaningful on so many different levels. The whole experience was pretty magical."

BLACK GIVES WAY TO BLUE is Alice In Chains' first new studio release in more than 10 years. The quartet (guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and guitarist/vocalist William DuVall) recorded the album with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters) at Studio 606 in Northridge, CA and Henson Studios in Hollywood.

The full track listing is as follows:

"All Secrets Known"
"Check My Brain"
"Last Of My Kind"
"Your Decision"
"A Looking In View"
"When The Sun Rose Again"
"Acid Bubble"
"Lessons Learned"
"Take Her Out"
"Private Hell"
"Black Gives Way To Blue"

On August 22, band will join Tool and Linkin Park for the first-ever Epicenter show at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA, to be followed by a headlining tour set to kick off September 4th at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. For show information, please visit www.aliceinchains.com.

Over the course of their remarkable career, Alice In Chains has garnered multiple Grammy nominations, sold more than 17 million albums worldwide, wrote and recorded 11 top 10 hit singles and stood atop Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart with two No. 1 records.

Tour dates are as follows (additional shows to be confirmed):

Date City Venue

August 22 Pomona, CA Epicenter

Sept. 4 Washington, DC 9:30 Club

Sept. 5 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts

Sept. 7 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club

Sept. 8 New York, NY The Fillmore

Sept. 11 Nashville, TN WBUZ Buzzfest

Sept. 12 Indianapolis, IN X-Fest

Sept. 13 Dayton, OH X-Fest

Sept. 15 Toronto, ON The Opera House

Sept. 16 Cleveland, OH House of Blues

Sept. 17 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall

Sept. 19 Chicago, IL House of Blues

Sept. 20 Milwaukee, WI The Rave

Sept. 21 Minneapolis, MN First Ave

Sept. 24 Seattle, WA Moore Theater

Sept. 26 Portland, OR Roseland Grill

Sept. 28 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore

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