“Down in a Hole” was written by Jerry Cantrell for Alice in Chains’ 1992 album Dirt. The studio version was released as a single in 1993 and reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It has long been regarded as one of the band’s most emotionally direct songs, built around Cantrell’s dual-guitar arrangement and the layered vocals of Cantrell and Layne Staley. The acoustic performance from the band’s MTV Unplugged session, recorded on 10 April 1996 at the Majestic Theater in Brooklyn, became equally famous. It was one of the last major appearances by Staley with the group. Jerry Cantrell later said he felt extremely ill that day and was on an IV before the show, but the performance itself is widely considered one of the defining moments of both the band and the Unplugged series.