The 27 Club, also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club or Club 27, is a name for a group of influential rock and blues musicians who all died at the age of 27, sometimes under mysterious circumstances.[1][2]
The 27 Club consists of two related phenomena, both in the realm of popular culture. The first is a list of five famous musicians who died at age 27 -- Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain. The second is the idea that many other notable musicians have also died at the age of 27.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 a seemingly unusual number of prominent 27-year-old musicians within a two-year period of time, exactly: Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.[4] 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.[5] On the fifteenth anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death, National Public Radio's Robert Smith said, "The deaths of these rock stars at the age of 27 really changed the way we look at rock music."[6] The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll details the history of the phenomenon.
Picture | Name | Date of death | Official cause of death | Fame | Aged |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Brian Jones | July 3, 1969 | Drowned in swimming pool.[7] | Rolling Stones founder and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist. | 27 years and 125 days |
 | Jimi Hendrix | September 18, 1970 | Asphyxiated on vomit after combining sleeping pills with wine.[8] | Pioneering electric guitarist, singer and songwriter for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys. | 27 years and 295 days |
 | Janis Joplin | October 4, 1970 | Probable heroin overdose.[9] | Lead vocalist and songwriter for Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band. | 27 years and 258 days |
 | Jim Morrison | July 3, 1971 | Official cause of death listed as "heart failure"; however, no autopsy was performed.[10] | Lead singer, songwriter and video director for The Doors. | 27 years and 207 days |
 | Kurt Cobain | c. April 5, 1994 | Suicide by shotgun.[11] | Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Nirvana. | 27 years and c. 44 days |
Other musicians who died at 27
Some lists include other musicians who died at age 27.[3][12] Cobain and Hendrix biographer Charles R. Cross writes, "The number of musicians who died 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 | Claim to notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandre Levy | January 17, 1892 | Unknown. | Composer. |
| Louis Chauvin | March 26, 1908 | Neurosyphilitic sclerosis. | Ragtime musician. |
| Robert Johnson | August 16, 1938 | Unknown, but typically credited to strychnine poisoning. | Bluesman. Recorded very famous and influential set of 29 songs that influenced many famous musicians after him, considered the first of the unofficial 27 club. |
| Nat Jaffe | August 5, 1945 | Result of complications from high blood pressure. | Blues musician. |
| Jesse Belvin | February 6, 1960 | Car crash. | R&B singer and songwriter. |
| Rudy Lewis | May 20, 1964 | Drug overdose. | Vocalist of The Drifters. |
| Malcolm Hale | October 31, 1968 | Carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty space heater. | Original member of Spanky and Our Gang. |
| Dickie Pride | March 26, 1969 | Overdose of sleeping pills. | British rock and roll singer. |
| Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson | September 3, 1970 | Barbiturate overdose, possible suicide. | Leader, singer and primary composer of Canned Heat. |
| Arlester "Dyke" Christian | March 13, 1971 | Shot. | Frontman and vocalist of Dyke & the Blazers. |
| Linda Jones | March 14, 1972 | Diabetic coma. | R&B singer. |
| Ron "Pigpen" McKernan | March 8, 1973 | Gastrointestinal hemorrhage associated with alcoholism. | Founding member, keyboardist and singer of the Grateful Dead. |
| Roger Lee Durham | July 27, 1973 | Fell off a horse and died from the injuries. | Singer and percussionist of Bloodstone. |
| Wallace Yohn | August 12, 1974 | Died in a plane crash along with three other band members. | Organ player of Chase. |
| Dave Alexander | February 10, 1975 | Pulmonary edema. | Bassist for the Stooges. |
| Peter Ham | April 24, 1975 | Suicide by hanging. | Keyboardist and guitarist, leader of Badfinger. |
| Gary Thain | December 8, 1975 | Drug overdose. | Former bassist of Uriah Heep. |
| Helmut Köllen | May 3, 1977 | Carbon monoxide poisoning. | Bassist with 1970s German prog rock band Triumvirat. |
| Chris Bell | December 27, 1978 | Car crash: ran into a telephone pole. | Singer-songwriter and guitarist of power pop band Big Star and solo. |
| Jacob Miller | March 23, 1980 | Car crash. | Jamaican reggae artist and lead singer for Inner Circle. |
| 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. |
| Alexander Bashlachev | February 17, 1988 | Suicide by jumping. | Russian poet, rock musician and songwriter. |
| Jean-Michel Basquiat | August 12, 1988 | Speedball overdose. | Painter and graffiti artist; formed the band Gray. |
| Pete de Freitas | June 14, 1989 | Motorcycle wreck on his way back from filming a music video. | Drummer for Echo & the Bunnymen. |
| Mia Zapata | July 7, 1993 | Beaten, raped and murdered. | Lead singer of the Gits. |
| Kristen Pfaff | June 16, 1994 | Officially ruled as an accidental heroin overdose. | Bass guitarist for Hole and Janitor Joe. |
| Richey James Edwards | c. February 1, 1995 | Disappeared; officially presumed dead November 23, 2008. | Lyricist and guitarist for Manic Street Preachers. |
| Fat Pat | February 3, 1998 | Shot. | Rapper and member of Screwed Up Click. |
| Freaky Tah | March 28, 1999 | Shot. | Rapper and member of the rap group Lost Boyz. |
| Sean Patrick McCabe | August 28, 2000 | Asphyxiated on vomit after ingesting too much alcohol. | Lead singer of Ink & Dagger. |
| Maria Serrano Serrano | November 24, 2001 | Plane crash. | Background singer for Passion Fruit. |
| Jeremy Michael Ward | May 25, 2003 | Heroin overdose. | The Mars Volta and De Facto sound manipulator. |
| Bryan Ottoson | April 19, 2005 | Prescription drug overdose. | Guitarist for American Head Charge. |
| Valentín Elizalde | November 25, 2006 | Murdered. | Mexican banda singer. |
| Orish Grinstead | c. April 20, 2008 | Kidney failure. | Founding member of '90s R&B group 702. |
| Lily Tembo | September 14, 2009 | Severe gastritis. | Zambian musician. |
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