Is it a curse? Or just coincidence?
Have you ever noticed that some of the most talented musical performers have died at age 27 either by suicide, drug abuse or tragic sudden death? Why 27? Enough people have noticed this trend and coined the term The 27 Club or The Forever 27 Club. You have to wonder if all these great musicians are all in Heaven having a jam session. This lens will cover a few of the many famous people who have died at age 27. Is it a curse? Or just coincidence? Or perhaps in some cases, deliberate.
Cobain and Hendrix biographer Charles R. Cross wrote: "The number of musicians who passed away at 27 is truly remarkable by any standard. Humans die regularly at all ages, there is a statistical spike for musicians who die at 27."
When Kurt Cobain died, his sister claimed that as a child he would talk about how he wanted to join the 27 Club.
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Table of Contents
- Kurt Cobain
- Kurt Cobain's Suicide Note
- Books About Kurt Cobain
- Kurt Cobain T-shirts
- Video Biographies about Kurt Cobain
- Kurt Cobain Posters
- Nirvana
- Jimi Hendrix
- Jimi Hendrix Video
- Jimi Hendrix Music
- Books About Jimi Hendrix
- Jimi Hendrix Biography on DVD
- Get Jimi Hendrix T-Shirts and Posters
- Janis Joplin
- Janis Joplin - Summertime (Live Gröna Lund 1969)
- Janis Joplin T-Shirts and Posters
- Books About Janis Joplin
- The Music of Janis Joplin
- Videos about Janis Joplin
- Jim Morrison
- Jim Morrison - The Doors
- Jim Morrison T-Shirts and Posters
- Books Written by Jim Morrison
- Music by Jim Morrison and The Doors
- Books About Jim Morrison and the Doors
- Watch these DVDs about Jim Morrison
- More 27 Club Members
- Your Favorite 27 Club Member
- Lens of the Day!
- Sign Our Guestbook!
- Lyrics Libs!
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 ? c. April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Seattle-based grunge band Nirvana.
With the lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from Nirvana's second album Nevermind (1991), Cobain with Nirvana entered into the mainstream, bringing along with them a subgenre of alternative rock called grunge. Other Seattle grunge bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden also gained popularity, and, as a result, alternative rock became a dominant genre on radio and music television in the United States during the early-to-middle 1990s. As Nirvana's frontman, Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the "spokesman of a generation", with Nirvana the "flagship band" of "Generation X".Azerrad, Michael. "Inside the Heart and Mind of Nirvana." Rolling Stone. April 16, 1992. Cobain was uncomfortable with the attention and placed his focus on the band's music, believing the band's message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, challenging the band's audience with its third studio album In Utero (1993).
During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with drug addiction and the media pressures surrounding him and his wife, Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead in his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. In ensuing years, the circumstances of his death became a topic of fascination and debate.
He was ranked #45 Greatest Singer of All Time, by Rolling Stone magazine.
Kurt Cobain's Suicide Note
Books About Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain T-shirts
Video Biographies about Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain Posters
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix) (November 27, 1942 ? September 18, 1970) was an influential American guitarist, singer and songwriter whose guitar playing was a considerable influence on rock music. After initial success in Europe, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, Hendrix headlined the 1969 Woodstock Festival.
Hendrix helped develop the technique of guitar feedback with overdriven amplifiers. He was influenced by blues artists such as B. B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, and Elmore James,The Making Of Are You Experienced by Sean Egan, A Cappella books, 2002, interview with Lonnie Youngblood.Jimi Hendrix, Musician by Keith Shadwick, Backbeat books 2003, p. 39.Blues CD, MCA, sleeve notes by Jeff Hannusch, p. 2.A Film About Jimi Hendrix deluxe ed. DVD, Warner Bros. sp. feat: From The Ukelele to the Strat, Faye Pridgeon Interview. rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield, Steve Cropper, as well as by some modern jazz.Mary Willix, voices from home 195, pages 28, 38, 73.
Carlos Santana has suggested that Hendrix's music may have been influenced by his Native American heritage. As a record producer, Hendrix also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic and phasing effects for rock recording.
Hendrix won many of the most prestigious rock music awards in his lifetime, and has been posthumously awarded many more, including being inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. An English Heritage "Blue plaque" was erected in his name on his former residence at Brook Street, London, in September 1997. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6627 Hollywood Blvd.) was dedicated in 1994. In 2006, his debut US album, Are You Experienced, was inducted into the United States National Recording Registry, and Rolling Stone named Hendrix the top guitarist on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003.
Jimi Hendrix Video
Jimi Hendrix - Wild Thing (live) (Guitar Sacrifice)
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Jimi Hendrix Music
Books About Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix Biography on DVD
Get Jimi Hendrix T-Shirts and Posters
Janis Joplin
October 4, 1970 - Drug Overdose
Janis Joplin was born to Seth and Dorothy Joplin; her father was an engineer at Texaco, her mother, registrar at a business college. She had two younger siblings, Michael and Laura. The Joplins felt that Janis always needed more attention than their other children, with her mother stating, "She was unhappy and unsatisfied without [receiving a lot of attention]. The normal rapport wasn't adequate."
As a teenager, she befriended a group of outcasts, one of whom had albums by African-American blues artists Bessie Smith and Leadbelly, whom Joplin later credited with influencing her decision to become a singer. She began singing in the local choir and expanded her listening to blues singers such as Odetta and Big Mama Thornton.
Primarily a painter while still in school, she first began singing blues and folk music with friends. While at Thomas Jefferson High School, she stated that she was mostly shunned. Joplin was quoted as saying, "I was a misfit. I read, I painted, I didn't hate niggers." As a teen, she became overweight and her skin broke out so badly she was left with deep scars which required dermabrasion. Other kids at high school would routinely taunt her and call her names like "pig," "freak" or "creep."
Joplin graduated from high school in 1960 and attended Lamar State College of Technology in Beaumont, Texas during the summer and later the University of Texas at Austin, though she did not complete her studies. The campus newspaper ran a profile of her in 1962 headlined "She Dares To Be Different."
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 ? October 4, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter,and music arranger, from Port Arthur, Texas. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Joplin number 46 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and number 28 on its 2008 100 Greatest Singers of All Time list.
Janis Joplin - Summertime (Live Gröna Lund 1969)
Janis Joplin - Summertime (Live Gröna Lund 1969)
Great preformance by Janis Joplin! Live in Stockholm 1969!
Runtime: 4:45
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Janis Joplin T-Shirts and Posters
Books About Janis Joplin
The Music of Janis Joplin
Videos about Janis Joplin
Jim Morrison
James Douglas Morrison (8 December 1943 - 3 July 1971) was an American singer, poet, songwriter, writer, and film director. He is best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors, and is widely considered to be one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock music history. He was also the author of several books of poetry, and the director of a documentary and short film.Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, to future Admiral George Stephen Morrison and Clara Clarke Morrison. Morrison had a sister, Anne Robin, who was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a brother, Andrew Lee Morrison, who was born 1948 in Los Altos, California. He was of Scottish and Irish ethnic heritage. He purportedly had an IQ of 149.
In 1947, Morrison, then four years old, purportedly witnessed a car accident in the desert, where a family of Native Americans were injured and possibly killed. He referred to this incident in a spoken word performance on the song "Dawn's Highway" from the album An American Prayer, and again in the songs "Peace Frog" and "Ghost Song."
Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding
Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind
Read the complete Wikipedia Article Here.
Jim Morrison - The Doors
Jim Morrison T-Shirts and Posters
Books Written by Jim Morrison
Music by Jim Morrison and The Doors
Books About Jim Morrison and the Doors
Watch these DVDs about Jim Morrison
More 27 Club Members
- Brian Jones - Rolling Stones lead guitarist. Drowned in a swimming pool on July 3, 1969.
- Les Harvey - Guitarist of Stone the Crows. Electrocuted by a microphone on May 2, 1972.
- Dave Alexandar - Bassist for the Stooges. Died of a pulmonary edema on February 10, 1975.
- Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - Keboardist of the Grateful Dead. Hemorrhaged to death due to alcoholim on March 8, 1973.
- Peter Ham - Keyboards and guitar, leader of Badfinger. Suicide by hanging on April 24, 1975.
- D. Boone - Guitarist and lead singer of the punk rock band, the Minutemen. Broken neck from a car accident and was ejected from the car on December 22, 1985.
- Pete de Freitas - Drummer for Echo & the Bunnymen. Motorcycle wreck on June 14, 1989.
- Kristen Pfaff - Bass guitar for the band Hole (Courtney Love).
Your Favorite 27 Club Member
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thrivingmom wrote...
Great lens. What a unique idea for a lens topic! Truly creative.
thrivingmom wrote...
Great lens. What a unique idea for a lens topic! Truly creative.
Frankster wrote...
Great lens. Never knew the 27 connections. Kind of spooky. Congrats on Lens of the Day (I don't know why I missed it). 5 stars! Bear hugs, Frankster
Pastiche wrote...
I missed the LOTD announcement - congrats! It's eerie about 27. Maybe its programmed deep in the brain ... we have lost so many fine artists at this pivotal age. Never knew of "the club" until now,-thanks for making this lens. Faved.
ashleymia wrote...
Wow what a great lens. I am so much impressed by your lens.
BethErickson wrote...
Sad to know nothing about why they passed or took their life when they're at the peak of their popularity. They could have contributed more songs and inspiration. Anyway, great and interesting lens. :) 5 stars for you.
Music-Resource wrote...
Hi Kim: Great 27 Club tribute lens. I remember when "the three" Jim, Jimi, and Janice died. That was a hard one to swallow. I was and still am a big fan of all three. There seems to be something about 27 in the rock world. Nice work. ~Music Resource~
papawu wrote...
5 star lens. I have never heard of the 27 club, but the thought of it kind of sent a chill up my spine. It's almost morbid.
MobyD wrote...
Fantastic lens! Congrats on LOTD! I gave it 5 stars. I've also lensrolled it to my Monterey Pop Festival lens.






















































































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