The 27 Club, also known as Club 27 or Forever 27 Club, is a name given to a group of notable musicians who died at the young age of 27. Their deaths during this ripe age are either known or shrouded in mystery.
Brian Jones
Drowned in a swimming pool. The coroner’s report stated “death by misadventure.” He was a Rolling Stones founder and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist…His age was 27 years & 125 days old and he died on July 3, 1969.
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.
Jimi Hendrix
Autopsy showed he asphyxiated on vomit after combining sleeping pills with wine. He was a Pioneering electric guitarist, singer and songwriter for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys. His age was 27 years & 295 days old and he died on September 18, 1970.
There was nothing about Jimi Hendrix that didn’t stick out; from his flamboyant outfits, to his left-handed guitar, or his use of amp overdrive. After being turned down by The Rolling Stones, Jimi was introduced to Chas Chandler via Keith Richard’s girlfriend. They went on to form The Jimi Hendrix Experience a rock band that would revolutionize the genre forever. In 1969, he headlined the biggest music festival of all time, Woodstock. One year later, Jimi Hendrix was found dead after overdosing on pills and drowning in his own vomit (asphyxiation).
Janis Joplin
She died of a probable heroin overdose..She was a lead vocalist and songwriter for Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band. Her age was 27 years & 258 days old and she died on October 4, 1970.
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.
Jim Morrison
His cause of death listed as “heart failure”; however, no autopsy was ever performed. He was the lead singer, songwriter and video director for The Doors.. His age was 27 years & 207 days old and he died on July 3, 1971.
Jim 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.
Kurt Cobain
He was the founding member, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Nirvana. His age was 27 years & 44 days old and he committed suicide on April 5, 1994.
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.
Amy Winehouse
Her cause of death has yet to be determined. She was a multiple award-winning English singer-songwriter.. She was 27 years & 312 days old and she died on July 23, 2011.
Ironically, Amy Winehouse owed much of her popularity to her song Rehab 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.
