Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Star was found dead today in Salt Lake City, Utah, according to TMZ. His body was found just after 1:30pm.

Starr was a cast member of the third season of Celebrity Rehab and appeared on VH1’s Sober House as well. Just last season, Starr appeared on Rehab again, celebrating six months sober. However, last month he was arrested for possession of prescription drugs. Salt Lake City police said he had Xanax and Opana pills when he was busted. A cause of death has not yet been announced.

For those that didn’t watch Rehab, Starr struggled with feelings relating to the death of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley, who died in the spring of 2002 after overdosing on a mixture of heroin and cocaine. Starr, who left the band in 1993, later stated that he left because of his extenuating drug use. He claimed to have guilty feelings surrounding Staley’s death, at times blaming himself for the former singer’s demise.

Starr met with Staley’s mother, apologizing for not calling 911. I’m going to let Wikipedia fill in some of this backstory (I’m really polishing my journalism skills here!):

In an interview on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab with Nancy McCallum (Staley’s mother), former Alice in Chains bass player Mike Starr said that he spent time with Staley the day before he died as Starr’s birthday is April 4. Starr claims that Staley was very sick but would not call 911. The two ex-bandmates briefly argued, which ended with Starr storming out. Starr stated that Staley called after him as he left “Not like this, don’t leave like this”. Since Staley is believed to have died a day later, on April 5, Starr has expressed regret that he did not call 911 to save his friend’s life; Starr reported that Staley had threatened to sever their friendship if he did. Starr is the last known person to see Staley alive. The interview ended with Starr apologizing to McCallum for not calling 911, but McCallum was insistent that neither she nor anyone in her family blamed Starr for Staley’s death. She also told Starr: “Layne would forgive you. He’d say, ‘Hey, I did this. Not you.'” With that said, Starr still blamed himself for the death of Staley.

Having watched Starr’s struggles on Rehab makes this even more depressing. He was a kind-hearted guy who became a victim of pervasive drug use and years’ worth of guilt and remorse. It’s incredibly disheartening to hear that he lost his fight.

RIP, Mike Starr. I’ll be blastin’ some Chains tunes tomorrow in your honor.