It’s interesting to hear that some people are unaware of the ’27 Club’ and the incredible rock and roll stars we lost to it. This club is a culmination of musicians that died, due to the pressures, media and addiction issues that roam around the fame industry. It only caught people's attention at the time due to the fact that they all seemed to be 27 years old, which caused a large number of conspiracy theories to arise. It may just be one of the most elusive and tragic coincidences in the history of rock and roll.
And the list is as follows;
Robert Johnson
The first member of the 27 club, who we lost in absolute rock and roll style. He was an American blues musician in the 1930’s, being named the king of the Delta Blues Singers, laying the groundwork for millions of rock stars after his time. Not only did he have an incredible storytelling voice, but he was also one of history’s greatest guitarists, deeming him a music giant. His death has always been a mystery, but it is said that he had been partying in many ‘juke joints’ until one day he suddenly became very sick. It is rumoured that he had been flirting with what they believed to be the bar owners wife, and was then poisoned by the jealous husband. There is no proof of this speculation but the poisoning was how Robert Johnson entered the 27 club, dying on the 16th August 1938.
Brian Jones
Brian Jones was the founder of the Rolling Stones, playing slide guitar and singing backing vocals among a huge array of other instruments. He struggled badly with alcohol and drug addiction, which led to outrageous behaviour, unreliability and difficulties that the band just couldn’t deal with. The issues came to a head in 1969 when they dismissed Jones from the band. He was found a month later, having drowned intoxicated in his swimming pool at the age of 27. The odd thing about this one is the question of murder that surrounds it, with both his children and other associates of him believing that this was not ‘death by misadventure’.
Jimi Hendrix
Crowned one of the most influential and talented guitar players of all time, Hendrix was a pioneer of the endless possibilities of the guitar. He introduced the styles of fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion to generate a whole new musical sound. He was found unresponsive in his apartment after taking 18x the recommended dose of sleeping pills along with a huge amount of alcohol in 1970. Again conspiracy roams around his death, and some even believe he was murdered by his manager for his money - but again, the truth died with him and no-one will ever know why or what happened.
Janis Joplin
Another sad and tragic death was the one of Janis Joplin. She was an iconic American singer and songwriter, rising to fame with her uninhibited and aggressive style. She dropped out of university to sing folk songs in the blues and Texas clubs, and this is where her drug and alcohol abuse began. Her career was as glamorous as it was destructive and after a very long period of drug addiction, she was found dead in her hotel room, after keeling over and hitting her face on her nightstand whilst high on heroin.
Jim Morrison
A former boyfriend of Joplin and friend of Hendrix, Jim Morrison was next to join the 27 club. Morrison was another psychedelic musician, and frontman of “The Doors”, who stood out with his controversial and theatrical shows. He was well known for his outlandish behaviour, his indecent exposure on stage and his drink and drug abuse. In 1971 he left the band, moved to Paris to write poetry and died in his apartment that year. The cause of death was listed as heart failure, but again conspiracy emerges due to the lack of an autopsy.
Kurt Cobain
A name we will always recognise, the founder, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the incredible and record-breaking grunge band Nirvana. One of the most influential alternative musicians, with his angsty songwriting and controversial persona, he was granted the spokesperson of his generation. However, this pressure wasn’t something he dealt well with at all, suffering from chronic depression and heroin addiction. He was always in the spotlight, especially with his turbulent marriage to Courtney Love. In 1994 it all became too much for him and he was found in his greenhouse with a gunshot wound to the head.
Kristen Pfaff
The link between this one and the previous is what makes it so tragic and relevant. Kristen Pfaff was the bassist for the alternative rock band ‘Hole’ of which Courtney Love was the lead singer and guitarist. She was also a close friend of Cobain himself, and living in the ’heroin capital’ took its toll and she quickly became an addict. In the wake of Cobain’s death, and after a stay in a detox centre she had decided to move back to Minneapolis permanently, to help her stay clean. But it is said that on returning to Seattle to collect her belongings, she relapsed and was found dead from an overdose in June 1994.
Richey Edwards
This scenario is a very strange and distressing one. Richey Edwards was the Manic Street Preachers guitarist, known for his dark, intellectual and political songwriting and his mysterious stage persona. He suffered from severe depression and insomnia of which he used alcohol as a crutch. Richey disappeared in 1995, leaving little trace of his intentions. It is thought that he may have committed suicide as his last sighting was near a known suicide spot, and he is now officially presumed dead but many alternative conspiracies have arisen.
Amy Winehouse
Amy was one of the most iconic female artists, with her London girl attitude, her distinctive looks and her incredible soulful vocals. She never wanted to be famous and only entered the world of fame because of her absolute love of music. However, fame and tabloids took their toll on her, alongside a mentally turbulent romance with Blake Fielder-Civil which sent her down a path of dangerous territory. She became addicted to drugs and alcohol, also suffering with depression and bulimia, and her life went on a downward spiral. She died of alcohol poisoning in 2011, after binge drinking enough to make her comatose and subsequently stop breathing. Accidental or deliberate I guess we’ll never know, but again another sad, untimely death of a huge character.
There a many more on this ever-growing list and they all follow the same sort of pattern. Whether you’re a conspiracy theorist and would like to believe that there are alternative theories, or you simply correlate the huge demanding pressure of fame with the untimely deaths of these stars, it is safe to say how sad and tragic the 27 club is. One thing we can say is that, although these influential artists are no longer with us, their legacy lives on in the incredible music they gave us.
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