Their song "Leather Warrior" appeared on Northwest Metalfest, a compilation album featuring various metal acts released in 1984 by Seattle label Ground Zero Records.
[4] Starr briefly joined another band, Gypsy Rose, which included early Alice N' Chains producer Tim Branom on lead vocals and his future bandmate Jerry Cantrell on guitar.
[5][6] The trio then began staging what Cantrell and Kinney later said were fake auditions in order to coax Staley into joining their band.
[6] Starr parted ways with Alice in Chains just as the band was achieving its greatest commercial success while touring behind the album Dirt in 1993.
According to the band's lead vocalist Layne Staley in a February 1994 Rolling Stone article, Starr's departure from Alice in Chains stemmed from "just a difference in priorities.
"[9] Starr, however, contradicted this account on an episode of Celebrity Rehab, claiming that he was kicked out of the band due to his escalating drug use.
[citation needed] In 2010, Starr recorded a cover of Sonic Youth's "Kool Thing" with singer Leiana.
[14] Starr claimed that Layne Staley saved his life when Alice in Chains were on tour in January 1993 with Nirvana in Brazil.
As he was trying to check in for a flight to Los Angeles with a suitcase that he stole from the baggage claim area, authorities at the airport searched him and found he was carrying marijuana.
[22][23] Starr was convicted of felony drug possession in 2003, and a bench warrant was issued on August 25, 2003, when he failed to appear for sentencing.
[25] Starr was featured in the third season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2010, which documented his treatment for methadone addiction beginning in August 2009 at the Pasadena Recovery Center.
[citation needed] In February 2011, Starr was arrested in Salt Lake City for investigation of drug possession and on an outstanding warrant from 2003.
"[31] In 2013, Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney added the initials "LSMS" on his drum kit, a tribute to Layne Staley and Mike Starr.
[32][33] On September 19, 2013, Jerry Cantrell paid tribute to both Starr and Layne Staley before performing the song "Nutshell" with Alice in Chains at the Rock in Rio concert in Brazil.
[34] For the show in São Paulo on September 26, the band had T-shirts of Brazil national football team with the names "Staley" and "Starr" on display on the stage.
[35][36] Jerry Cantrell revealed that the lyrics "Left me here so all alone, only for me to find/Hear your voice on waves we rode, echoes inside my mind/Disembodied, just a trace of what it was like then/With you here, we shared a space that's always half empty" from the song "Rainier Fog" are about Staley and Starr.
[38] In October 2017, Lost Realm Records released a 500-copy limited edition CD+DVD deluxe package of 10 songs, taken from the original master tapes and digitally remastered, and live performances by Starr's previous band Sato, titled Leather Warriors – Sato Anthology 82/86; this package was dedicated to Starr's memory.