I bet you heard about the 27 Club at some point, since it is one of the most famous terms in rock & roll history. The name started being popularly known after the death of Kurt Cobain, at 27 years old, in 1994. The fans started linking his premature death with others who died at the exact same age as him, like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison.
People started talking about the term again when Amy Winehouse died in 2011, also at 27. In addition to being the same age, the 27 Club artists also have another thing in common: the way they passed. The deaths were linked to the way their fame influenced their lives negatively, leading to drug use, suicide, and intriguing tragic events.
At start, the club was widely connected to musicians, which changed since many other young artists have passed at 27 due to addiction, suicide or other weird accidents at the same “cursed” age.
Members of the 27 club
The theory is still talked about to this day. Here are some of the most famous members of the 27 Club:
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
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Jean-Michel Basquiat was one of the non-musician parts of the 27 Club. He was a worldwide known non-expressionist artist. He spent the late 70s painting graffiti and, in the 80s, he allowed his paintings to be a part of a group show. Since then, his career just kept growing, to the point where he worked with Andy Warhol and even dated Madonna. His temperamental issues and drug problem started growing stronger until his death in 1988, at 27, when he mixed opioids and cocaine and had an overdose.
- Brian Jones
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Brian Jones was an English musician best known for founding the band The Rolling Stones. Jones was dismissed by other band members in 1969 because of his alcohol and drug problems. Less than a month later, he passed by drowning in the swimming pool at his home.
- Kurt Cobain
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Kurt Cobain was best known for being the singer and founder of the band Nirvana. During the last years of his life, Kurt fought against an addiction to heroine, depression, diseases and the pressure that his celebrity life put him in. In 1994, he was found dead in his house three days after his death, which was considered suicide by a rifle shot in his head.
- Jimi Hendrix
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Jimi Hendrix is considered by some as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. With that kind of pressure, Jimi started having alcohol and drug problems throughout his life. In 1970, he died of asphyxia while intoxicated with sleeping tablets. He had 18 times the recommended dosage.
- Janis Joplin
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Janis Joplin had one of the most powerful voices in rock & roll history. Because of that, she became an extremely famous singer. Joplin had trouble with drugs and alcohol since before fame, so as she became a celebrity, things only got worse. In 1970, she died of a heroin overdose possibly compounded by alcohol.
- Amy Winehouse
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Amy Winehouse made people gasp with her unique contralto voice. Because of that, she became of the most famous singers of the 2000s. The fame brought some problems to Amy’s life. She struggled with substance abuse, mental illness and addiction. In 2011, Winehouse was found dead by alcohol poisoning, which was aggravated by bulimia.
The 27 Club theory is still one of the most famous ones in rock & roll history, if not the most famous. With many mysteries and coincidences (or are they?), people engage and discuss about it worldwide since 1994.
It is a great part of history that stays with us forever through these theories and ideas. It is a way of keeping these amazing and unique artists alive even though they are no longer physically with us.
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The article above was edited by Maria Clara Polcan.
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