The 27 Club

The 27 Club is a group of popular musicians who died at age 27, often as a result of drug and alcohol abuse, or other 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 official list of those musicians belonging to the 27 Club are:

- Alexandre Levy (1892, Composer/pianist/conductor, cause of death unknown.)
- Louis Chauvin (1908, Ragtime musician, Neurosyphilitic sclerosis)
- Robert Johnson (1938, Blues musician, cause of death officially unknown, but attributed to strychnine poisoning)
- Nat Jaffe (1945, Swing Jazz pianist, complications from high blood pressure)
- Jesse Belvin (1960, R&B singer/songwriter/pianist, car accident)
- Rudy Lewis (1964, vocalist of The Drifters, drug overdose)
- Malcolm Hale (1968, original member and lead guitarist of Spanky And Our Gang, carbon monoxide poisoning)
- Dickie Pride (1969, rock and roll singer, overdose of sleeping pills)
- Brian Jones (1969, Rolling Stones founder/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, drowning/death by misadventure)
- Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (1970, leader/singer/primary composer of Canned Heat, barbiturate overdose/possible suicide)
- Jimi Hendrix (1970, pioneering electric guitarist/singer/songwriter for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys, asphyxiation)
- Janis Joplin (1970, lead vocalist/songwriter of Big Brother And The Holding Company, the Kozmic Blues Band, and Full Tilt Boogie Band. Possible heroin overdose)
- Arlester "Dyke" Christian (1971, frontman/vocalist/bassist of Dyke And The Blazers, murdered)
- Jim Morrison (1971, singer/lyricist/leader of The Doors, reported as heart failure)
- Linda Jones (1972, soul singer, complications from diabetes)
- Leslie Harvey (1972, guitarist of Stone The Crows/brother of Alex Harvey, electrocution)
- Ron "Pigpen" McKernon (1973, founding member/keyboardist/vocalist of the Grateful Dead, gastrointestinal hemorrhage)
- Roger Lee Durham (1973, singer/percussionist of Bloodstone, thrown from a horse and died of injuries)
- Wallace Yohn (1974, organ player of Chase, plane crash)
- Dave Alexander (1975, bassist for The Stooges, pulmonary edema)
- Pete Ham (1975, keyboardist/guitarist/leader of Badfinger, suicide by hanging)
- Gary Thain (1975, former bassist of Uriah Heep and the Keef Hartley Band, heroin overdose)
- Cecilia (1976, singer, car accident)
- Helmut Kollen (1977, bassist for 1970's prog rock band Triumvirat, carbon monoxide poisoning)
- Chris Bell (1978, singer/songwriter/guitarist of power pop band Big Star, car accident)
- Jacob Miller (1980, Reggae artist/lead singer for Inner Circle, car accident)
- D. Boon (1985, guitarist/lead singer of punk band The Minutemen, van accident)
- Alexander Bashlachev (1988, poet/rock musician/songwriter, fall from a height, probable suicide)
- Jean-Michel Basquiat (1988, painter/graffiti artist/formed the band Gray, speedball overdose)
- Pete de Freitas (1989, drummer for Echo & The Bunnymen, motorcycle accident)
- Mia Zapata (1993, lead singer of The Gits, murdered)
- Kurt Cobain (1994, founding member/lead singer/lead guitarist/songwriter of Nirvana, suicide by gunshot supposedly)
- Kristen Pfaff (1994, bassist for Hole and Janitor Joe, heroin overdose)
- Richey Edwards (1995, lyricist/guitarist for the Manic Street Preachers, disappeared, officially presumed dead November 23, 2008. No body ever found)
- Fat Pat (1998, rapper/member of Screwed Up Chick, murdered)
- Freaky Tah (1999, rapper/member of Lost Boyz, murdered)
- Rodrigo Bueno (2000, Cuarteto singer, car accident)
- Sean Patrick McCabe (2000, lead singer of Ink and Dagger, asphyxiation)
- Maria Serrano Serrano (2001, background singer for Passion Fruit, plane crash)
- Jeremy Michael Ward (2003, The Mars Volta/De Facto sound manipulator, heroin overdose)
- Bryan Ottoson (2005, guitarist for American Head Charge, prescription drug overdose)
- Valentin Elizalde (2006, Mexican Banda singer, murdered)
- Amy Winehouse (2011, singer/songwriter, alcohol poisoning)
- Richard Turner (2011, trumpet player/collaborator with Friendly Fires, cardiac arrest)

Since this is the music forum, I figured we could use a thread to discuss theories as to why there's such a spike in deaths of musicians when they reach 27.

I think Chris Daughtry said it best:

"They're forever 27, Jimi, Janis, Brian Jones
And we stand here in their memory
'Cause their songs, they still survive
So throw your lighters up
And, darling, sing with me tonight."

I think at first it was just accidental/a coincidence. But over the past decade and a half or so, it's became almost like a trend. Like dying at 27 makes you part of this exclusive club, and that's not the case. It's not a good thing. I'm not saying that some deaths are intentional, but they very well could be. I know some people think that dying young is a good thing.

motorcityxlove wrote:

I think Chris Daughtry said it best:

"They're forever 27, Jimi, Janis, Brian Jones
And we stand here in their memory
'Cause their songs, they still survive
So throw your lighters up
And, darling, sing with me tonight."

I think at first it was just accidental/a coincidence. But over the past decade and a half or so, it's became almost like a trend. Like dying at 27 makes you part of this exclusive club, and that's not the case. It's not a good thing. I'm not saying that some deaths are intentional,  but they very well could be. I know some people think that dying young is a good thing.

I'm wondering if a lot more of these weren't murders that were just covered up really well. I'm almost positive Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain were murdered.

RobinLeigh wrote:

motorcityxlove wrote:

I think Chris Daughtry said it best:

"They're forever 27, Jimi, Janis, Brian Jones
And we stand here in their memory
'Cause their songs, they still survive
So throw your lighters up
And, darling, sing with me tonight."

I think at first it was just accidental/a coincidence. But over the past decade and a half or so, it's became almost like a trend. Like dying at 27 makes you part of this exclusive club, and that's not the case. It's not a good thing. I'm not saying that some deaths are intentional,  but they very well could be. I know some people think that dying young is a good thing.

I'm wondering if a lot more of these weren't murders that were just covered up really well.  I'm almost positive Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain were murdered.

Anything's possible. The music industry can be really ruthless and cruel, and if you don't do what your handlers/record label tells you to do, it stands to reason that the people around you would make sure you were taken out. The guy who did Jimi Hendrix's autopsy originally says he is almost positive Jimi was murdered, because no one could consume that much alcohol. And Kurt died under such dubious circumstances that to say it was a suicide just sounds downright ignorant.