27 Club
The 27 Club, also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club, is a popular culture name for a group of influential rock and blues musicians who all died at the age of 27, sometimes under mysterious circumstances.[1][2][3]
Musicians usually included in the 27 Club
There is some debate as to the criterion used to include musicians who died at the age of 27 in the "27 Club". The impetus for the Club's creation were the deaths of an unusual number of prominent 27 year old musicians within a two year period of time. Lists include Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin; Brian Jones is usually included too. All four of these musicians died between 1969 and 1971. Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison all died within a ten month period. Morrison and Jones died on the same date two years apart. Kurt Cobain, who died in 1994, was later included by some, probably due to his popularity and his death occurring at the pinnacle of his career. (According to the book Heavier Than Heaven, when Cobain died his sister claimed that as a kid he would talk about how he wanted to join the 27 Club.[4])
| Name | Date of death | Cause of death | Fame |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Jones | July 3, 1969 | Drowned in swimming pool. Possibly murdered.[5] | Rolling Stones founder and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist. |
| Jimi Hendrix | September 18, 1970 | Asphyxiated on vomit after accidental overdose of sleeping pills. | Singer, songwriter, and guitarist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Band of Gypsys. |
| Janis Joplin | October 4, 1970 | Heroin overdose after misjudging the purity of the drug. | Lead vocalist and songwriter for Big Brother & The Holding Company, The Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band. |
| Jim Morrison | July 3, 1971 | Official cause of death listed as "heart failure" but, as no autopsy was performed, the actual cause remains mysterious. Possible accidental overdose. | Lead singer, songwriter, and video director for The Doors. |
| Kurt Cobain | c. April 5, 1994 | Although there are a variety of theories about the manner of his death, it was officially ruled as caused by a self inflicted shotgun wound. | Lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for Nirvana. |
Other well-known musicians who died at 27
Some lists include other musicians who died at age 27. Cobain biographer Charles R. Cross writes, "The number of musicians who passed away 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."[3]
| Name | Date of death | Cause of death | Fame |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Chauvin | March 26, 1908 | Syphilis. | Ragtime musician. |
| Robert Johnson | August 16, 1938 | Unknown, but typically credited to pneumonia following strychnine poisoning. Possibly shot. | Bluesman. Most notable for influencing Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton |
| Jesse Belvin | February 6, 1960 | Car accident. | R&B singer and songwriter |
| Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson | September 3, 1970 | Barbiturate overdose, possible suicide. | Leader, singer and primary composer of Canned Heat. |
| Les Harvey | May 2, 1972 | Electrocuted by a microphone. | Guitarist of Stone the Crows. |
| Ron "Pigpen" McKernan | March 3, 1973 | Gastrointestinal hemorrhage associated with alcoholism. | Founding member and keyboardist of the Grateful Dead. |
| Dave Alexander | February 10, 1975 | Pneumonia. | Bassist for The Stooges. |
| Peter Ham | April 24, 1975 | Suicide by hanging. | Keyboardist/Guitarist, leader of Badfinger. |
| Gary Thain | December 8, 1975 | Drug overdose. | Former bassist of Uriah Heep. |
| Chris Bell | December 27, 1978 | Car accident; ran into a telephone pole. | Singer-songwriter and guitarist of power pop band Big Star and solo. |
| D. Boon | December 22, 1985 | Lying down in the back of a van when it veered off road, he was ejected from the vehicle and broke his neck. | Guitarist, lead singer of punk band the Minutemen. |
| Pete de Freitas | June 14, 1989 | Motorcycle accident on his way back from filming a music video | Drummer for Echo & the Bunnymen. |
| Mia Zapata | July 7, 1993 | Murdered. | Lead singer of The Gits. |
| Kristen Pfaff | June 16, 1994 | Heroin overdose. | Bass guitarist for Hole. |
| Fat Pat | February 3, 1998 | Shot to death. | Rap singer and member of Screwed Up Click. |
| Jeremy Ward | May 25, 2003 | Heroin overdose. | The Mars Volta and De Facto sound manipulator. |
See also
References
- ^ The 27 Club from BBC Radio 2. Access date 19 June, 2007
- ^ Malu, Berges Y, "The 27 Club" in Split Magazine, May 20, 2007. Access date 19, June, 2007
- ^ a b Cross, Charles R., "P-I's Writer in Residence Charles R. Cross explores the darker side of 'only the good die young'" in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 23 February, 2007. Access date 19, June, 2007
- ^ "Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain". HyperionBooks.com.
- ^ Bruno, Anthony. "Death by Misadventure", CourtTV Crime Library
External links
- "The 50 Worst Things Ever to Happen to Music" from Blender
- "Fans Mark 10 Years Since Cobain Death"
- Interview with Andrew Loog Oldham, manager of the Rolling Stones
- "Nirvana: smells like a very ape heart shaped box in bloom" from the Rutgers-Newark Observer
- "Oh Pleez GAWD I can't handle the success!" from Salon.com
- 27 Club T-shirt
- "site & book devoted to the pop culture myth of The 27s