THE 27 CLUB
The 27 Club is a term that refers to a number of popular musicians who
died at age 27, often as a result of drug and alcohol abuse, or violent means
such as homicide or suicide. The number of
musicians who have died at this age and the circumstances of many of those
deaths have given rise to the idea that premature deaths at this age are
unusually common.
The "club" has been repeatedly cited in music magazines,
journals and the daily press. Several exhibitions have been devoted to the idea,
as well as novels, films and stage plays. There have been many different
theories and speculations about the causes of such early deaths and their
possible connections. Cobain and Hendrix biographer Charles R. Cross writes "The
number of musicians who died at 27 is truly remarkable by any standard.
[Although] humans die regularly at all ages, there is a statistical spike for
musicians who die at 27."
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Brian Jones
Brian
Jones was the founder of a little known band named The Rolling Stones. While on
the phone to secure a gig with a venue owner, Brian came up with the name
“Rollin(g) Stones” by reading it off an album that was laying around. Their
music consisted mostly of R&B covers and it wasn’t until Andrew Loog Oldham
joined that they began shifting their focus to newer, more original material.
This transition reduced Jones' role in the band which was further accelerated
with his drug habit and alcohol abuse. He became alienated from The Rolling
Stones and eventually, he was no longer a member of the band he helped form. One
month later, he was found face down in his swimming pool.
Janis’
big break came in 1966 when she became the lead vocalist of the psychedelic
hippie rock band, Big Brother and The Holding Company. She was renowned for her
strong powerful vocals during a male-dominated rock era. Janis
Joplin performed
at Woodstock after having several shots of heroin and being highly inebriated.
In 1970, she flew to Brazil where she cleaned up her act and remained sober for
a while. She would later return to the US where her drug habits would resurface
and ultimately, get the better of her as she died from an apparent heroin
overdose in October 1970.
4.
Jim Morrison
m
Morrison was a poet, a writer, a filmmaker, and of course, the lead singer for
the rock band, The Doors. Controversy surrounded The Doos when they were asked
to perform on the Ed Sullivan show. Fearing that the lyric “Girl We Couldn’t Get
Much Higher” was too risqué for television, Ed Sullivan requested that the band
modify the sentence to be more TV friendly to which they agreed. When they
played, Jim proceeded with original wording which infuriated Ed Sullivan. The
Doors had great success in the late 60s but Jim Morrison started
to get out of control. He was constantly drugged or drunk and would oftentimes
show up late for live performances. In 1971, he moved to Paris and a few months
later, Jim Morrison was found dead in his apartment. The circumstances
surrounding his death are still unclear as an autopsy was never performed. While
we're talking about Jim, here are the 7 most controversial Jim Morrison
moments.
5.
Kurt Cobain
In
an era where rock music was all about long hair and leather jackets,Kurt
Cobain sported
short hair and wore flannel clothing. Nirvana became an overnight success when
they took Michael Jackson off the number one slot in the Billboard music charts
with their smash hit,Smells
Like Teen Spirit.
Grunge music would go on to flood the radio airwaves throughout the early
nineties. In 1992, Cobain wed the equally unorthodox Courtney Love with whom
they had daughter Frances Bean Cobain. In 1993, Nirvana, known for their grungy
loud music, were approached by MTV and asked to perform a quieter, more intimate
acoustic set. Kurt Cobain’s emotional performance in Where
Did You Sleep Last Night still
sends chills down our spines. Here are 7 interesting facts you may not
know about Kurt Cobain.
6.
Amy Winehouse
Ironically, Amy
Winehouse owed
much of her popularity to her songRehab which
contained the lyric "They
tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no.'"
After struggling with drug addiction, Amy Winehouse finally went against those
same words and checked into rehab in 2011. After a short stay, the singer
checked herself out of rehab and began a new European tour. She was booed
off stage after
showing up at her first gig intoxicated and unable to remember the lyrics to her
famous songs. Her tour was cancelled following the incident to give her more
time to recover. She was found dead in
her London home a few weeks later.
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