MUMBAI: Among the many highlights on Black Gives Way To Blue, the 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 on 28 September.

"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 honour 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. It was a great recording session with Alice In Chains for a beautiful song," says John.

Cantrell adds, "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 and Black Gives Way To Blue.

On 22 August, the band will join Tool and Linkin Park at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA, to be followed by a headlining tour set to kick off on 4 September in Washington, DC.