Thursday, August 11, 2011

Another member of 27 Club: Amy Winehouse and the curse of 27


Club 27 or the curse of 27 is the term used for curse which started in 1938 with the death of a Blues artist Robert Johnson. In the beginning there was nothing evil about his death but then it started catching attention and became curiosity when a series of death was noticed amongst the 27 year old celebrities. Most of these celebrities were Rock stars involved in various drug addictions. There are about 42 artists who died at the same age and almost all them with the same cause but the curse became popular mainly because of the death of 6 major Rock artists. Amy Winehouse, with her drug addictions and a "Rock n' Roll" life style, was also 27 and was believed by many to be the next on the list. On July 23 2011 Amy Winehouse was found dead in her home in London. Though the reason of the death is yet to be found, the 27 year old singer has been included in the list of 27 Club. Seven of the most popular artists who are considered to be a part of this curse are as follows.

Robert Johnson, Blues Singer 16-Aug-38 27 years, 100 days












Brian Jones, Rolling Stones 3-Jul-69 27 years, 125 days












Jimi Hendrix - Singer, Song writer, Guitarist 18-Sep-70 27 years, 295 days












Janis Joplin - Singer 4-Oct-70 27 years, 258 days













Jim Morrison - The doors, Singer, song writer 3-Jul-71 27 years, 207 days











Kurt Cobain - Nirvana, Singer, Lead Guitarist 5-Apr-94 27 years, 44 days











Amy Winehouse 23-Jul-11 27 years, 312 days












Charles R. Cross, who is Kurt Cobain's biographer, 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."