Fresh off the release of recent chart-topping album Rainier Fog, Alice in Chains singer and guitarist Jerry Cantrell stopped by Los Angeles record store Amoeba to contribute his top picks for their YouTube series What's In My Bag? Cantrell kicks off his haul by pulling out ZZ Top classic Tres Hombres, praising Billy Gibbons' guitar tone before moving onto Elton John's "magical" Madman Across the Water. He calls John "probably the artist that kind of made me want to be a musician."
The grunge legend then hits the metal classics with Black Sabbath's Paranoid, calling guitarist Tony Iommi "one of (his) biggest influences." He then recalls how Ozzy went on to give AIC one of their biggest breaks as an opener on the original "No More Tours" tour back in 1992. Cantrell also gives a shou-tout to Dimebag and grabs a Judas Priest coffee mug that reminds him of the late Pantera co-founder before showcasing The Beatles' Abbey Road, explaining the band's "artistic output put out in such a short amount of time is just amazing to me."
Not one to stray too far from his rock roots, Cantrell chooses AC/DC's Highway to Hell, calling them his "favorite straight-up rock & roll band of all time." He then chooses Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, which has sold an astonishing 45 million plus copies since its 1977 release. Remembering his parents' love of country music, Cantrell wraps up the clip by pulling out two outlaw country superstar "prayer candles" adorned with Johnny Cash and Willy Nelson respectively. He says of the duo, "Two of my greatest heroes...I learned a lot from country artists like these guys."
