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Staley's love for music manifested at an early age. His mother, Nancy McCallum, revealed that he first picked up a trumpet in fifth grade but soon switched to drums, a passion that would follow him throughout his life. Endearingly, he changed his middle name to Thomas in homage to his favorite drummer, Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe. In the mid-1980s, he started his musical journey with a heavy metal band named SAS, which later transformed into Alice in Chains. This initial foray into music set the stage for the groundbreaking grunge movement and established Staley's reputation as a leading voice of his generation.