27 Club

The "27 Club" is a popular culture reference to the many rock and blues musicians who died at age 27. Included are:

Name	Date of death	Cause of Death	Fame
Robert Johnson	August 16, 1938	Pneumonia following strychnine poisoning.	Bluesman
Brian Jones	July 3, 1969	Drowned in swimming pool, possibly murdered	Rolling Stones guitarist
Jimi Hendrix	September 18, 1970	Asphyxiated on vomit after accidental overdose of sleeping pills.	Lead singer and guitarist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Band of Gyspys
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
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan	March 3, 1973	Gastrointestinal hemorrage.	Founding Member of The Grateful Dead
Kurt Cobain	April 5, 1994	Though there are a variety of theories about the manner of his death, his death was officially ruled a suicide by self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head	Lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for Nirvana and Fecal Matter

All were in the prime of their careers. Some have noted an eerie coincidence in the timing of the deaths of Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison, in particular, as well as Morrison and Jones dying on the same date, two years apart. Robert Johnson is considered the "founding father" of the infamous "27 Club", though his actual birthday is disputed.

Less-prominent members

Although a majority of media attention has focused on Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, McKernan, and later Cobain, a number of less-famous musicians also died at 27. Among them:

• Dave Alexander - (June 3, 1947 - February 10,1975) — bass player for The Stooges. Pneumonia following inflammation of the pancreas.

• Chris Bell - (January 12, 1951 - December 27, 1978) — Guitarist and principal songwriter on Big Star's first album #1 Record. Car accident.

• Pete de Freitas - (August 2, 1961 - June 14, 1989) — Drummer for Echo and the Bunnymen. Motor accident.

• D. Boon - (April 1, 1958 - December 22, 1985) — Lead singer and guitarist for 80's punk band Minutemen. Car accident.

• Richey James Edwards (December 22, 1967 - ??) — Guitarist and lyricist for rock band Manic Street Preachers. Disappeared on February 1, 1995, presumed dead.

• Louis Chauvin - (March 13, 1881 - March 26, 1908) — American ragtime composer. Venereal disease.

• Valentín Elizalde - (February 1, 1979 – November 25, 2006) — Mexican banda singer. Murdered.

• Peter Ham (April 27, 1947 - April 23, 1975) — Member of Badfinger. Suicide.

• Les Harvey (1944? - March 5, 1972) — Member of Stone the Crows. Electrocuted on stage.

• Kami (Ukyou KAMIMURA), (February 1, 1972 - June 21, 1999) — Member of Malice Mizer. Subarachnoid hemorrhage.

• Helmut Köllen (1950? - March 5, 1977) — Bass player and vocalist for Triumvirat. Carbon monoxide poisoning.

• Sean McCabe (November 13, 1972 - August 28, 2000) — Member of Ink & Dagger. Possible drug overdose.

• Bryan Ottoson (March 18, 1978 - April 19, 2005) — Lead guitarist of the band American Head Charge. Accidental prescription-drug overdose.

• Kristen Pfaff (May 26, 1967 – June 16, 1994) — Bass guitarist for the band Janitor Joe and later the grunge band Hole. Apparent heroin overdose.

• Raymond "Freaky Tah" Rogers (1971? - March 28, 1999) — Member of Lost Boyz. Homicide.

• Gary Thain (May 15, 1948 - December 8, 1975) — Member of Uriah Heep. Drug overdose.

• Jeremy Ward (May 1, 1976 - May 25, 2003) — The Mars Volta and De Facto. Heroin overdose.

• Alan Wilson (July 4, 1943 - September 3, 1970) — Guitar, harmonica and vocals for Canned Heat. Drug overdose.

• Wallace Yohn (1947? - December 8, 1974) — Member of Chase. Plane crash.

• Mia Zapata (August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993) — Lead singer of the Gits. Murdered.

See also

• List of famous people who died young
• Saturn return - An astrological phenomenon that happens to everyone sometime between the ages of 27 and 30

References

• The 27 Club from BBC Radio 2
• The 50 Worst Things Ever to Happen to Music from Blender