Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27 between 1969 and 1971. At the time, the coincidence gave rise to some comment, but it was not until the death of Kurt Cobain, about two and a half decades later, that the idea of a “27 Club” began to catch on in public perception. According to Hendrix and Cobain biographer Charles R. Cross, the growing importance of the media – Internet, television and magazines – and the response to an interview of Cobain’s mother were jointly responsible for such theories. An excerpt from a statement that Cobain’s mother, Wendy Fradenburg Cobain O’Connor, made in the Aberdeen, Washington newspaper The Daily World – “Now he’s gone and joined that stupid club. I told him not to join that stupid club.” – referred to Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison dying at the same age, according to Cross. Other authors share his view. On the other hand, Josh Hunter and Eric Segalstad, writer of The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll, assumed that Cobain’s mother referred to the death of his two uncles and his great uncle, who all committed suicide. According to Cross, the events have led a “set of conspiracy theorists to suggest the absurd notion that Kurt Cobain intentionally timed his death so he could join the 27 Club.” 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.” However, a study published in the British Medical Journal in December 2011 concluded that there was no increase in the risk of death for musicians at the age of 27. Although the sampled musicians faced an increased risk of death in their 20s and 30s, this was not limited to the age of 27.
Flip through the ’27 Club: 10 Musicians We Lost Way Too Soon’ gallery to learn more
Jones was discovered motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool at Cotchford Farm by his Swedish girlfriend, Anna Wohlin. By the time the doctors arrived it was too late and he was pronounced dead. The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure" and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse
Morrison died on July 3, 1971 at age 27. In the official account of his death, he was found in a Paris apartment bathtub by Pamela Courson. The official cause of death was listed on the death certificate as "heart failure.” Pursuant to French law, no autopsy was performed because the medical examiner stated that there was no evidence of foul play
Hendrix spent much of his last day in London with Monika Dannemann, the only witness to his final hours. When she woke the next morning, she found him breathing, but unconscious and unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at 12:45 p.m. and it was concluded that he aspirated on his own vomit and died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates
When Joplin failed to show up for a recording session, Full Tilt Boogie's road manager, John Cooke, drove to the Landmark Motor Hotel in Hollywood where Joplin was staying. Upon entering Joplin's room (#105), he found her dead on the floor beside her bed. The official cause of death was an overdose of heroin, possibly compounded by alcohol
Following the Grateful Dead's "Europe '72" tour, Ron "Pigpen” McKernan's health had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer tour with the band. His final concert appearance was June 17, 1972 at the Hollywood Bowl, in Los Angeles. He was found dead on March 8, 1973 of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to complications from alcohol abuse
On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain's body was discovered at his Lake Washington Blvd. home by an electrician named Gary Smith who had arrived to install a security system. A note was found addressed to his childhood imaginary friend “Boddah” and the coroner's report estimated Cobain to have died three days earlier
From 1973-75, Badfinger became embroiled in many internal, financial, and managerial problems and their music was stifled. By 1975, with no income and the band's business manager uncommunicative, Ham became despondent and hanged himself in the garage of his Surrey home. His suicide fell just three days shy of his 28th birthday
Canned Heat guitarist, Alan "Blind Owl” Wilson was found dead on a hillside behind bandmate Bob Hite's Topanga Canyon house. An autopsy identified his manner and cause of death as accidental acute barbiturate intoxication. His death came just two weeks before the death of Jimi Hendrix and four weeks before the death of Janis Joplin
Uriah Heep bassist, Gary Thain suffered an electric shock at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas on September 15, 1974, and was seriously injured. Due to his drug addiction he was not able to perform properly, and was fired by the band in early 1975. Thain died of respiratory failure due to a heroin overdose at his flat in Norwood Green in London
Blues legend Robert Johnson died on August 16, 1938, at the age of 27, near Greenwood, Mississippi. Although the cause of death is still unknown, according to one theory, Johnson was murdered when given a bottle of poisoned whiskey. It was given to him by the jealous husband of a woman with whom he had flirted with at a country dance
