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Cover of Jar of Flies by Alice In Chains
Cover: Jar of Flies

Song · Alice In Chains

“I Stay Away” by Alice In Chains

From the EP Jar of Flies (1994)

“I Stay Away” by Alice In Chains appears on 47 radio countdowns from 20 stations between 1994 and 2026. It was first released in 1994 on the EP Jar of Flies. Its best result is #22 on the WBCN Grunge Top 104 (2004). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #92 alternative song of 1994 and #1,180 alternative song of all time.

47countdowns
20stations
#22best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1994–2026years charted

Watch

Alice In Chains - I Stay Away (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (AliceInChainsVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"I Stay Away" comes from Jar of Flies, Alice in Chains' third EP, released in 1994, and on it the band brought bassist Mike Inez into the songwriting for the first time; he shares the music credit with Jerry Cantrell. Layne Staley wrote the words, the band produced it themselves, and Toby Wright recorded and mixed it. It's a moody, shifting piece of work, lush and uneasy by turns, with Staley's voice curling around the melody like smoke from a cigarette nobody's watching.

Columbia sent it to American radio that May, and it hung around Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart for 26 weeks, peaking at number 10. It also earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 60 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1994 107
1994 83 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1994 106
1994 64 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1994 101

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 671 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 653 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 708 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1998 653 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 494 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 454 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 350 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 1538 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 316 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
1999 680 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2000 1538 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1539 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 376 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 1536 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 70 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2002 310 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1540 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1540 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 246 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 22 WBCN WBCN Grunge Top 104 (2004) 104
2005 1538 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 185 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 248 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2014 410 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 379 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 416 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2019 369 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2020 360 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 466 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 252 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2021 839 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 154 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 301 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 410 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 297 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2023 253 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 308 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2023 126 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2024 182 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2024 173 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2025 76 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 308 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2026 148 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 490 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 1994

Best songs of 1994 →
  1. 1Black Hole SunSoundgarden
  2. 2CloserNine Inch Nails
  3. 3Self-EsteemThe Offspring
  4. 4Interstate Love SongStone Temple Pilots
  5. 5Come Out and PlayThe Offspring
  6. 6Basket CaseGreen Day

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