Rock Stars Dead at 27
Ah 27, we remember it as if it were yesterday. We were young, under employed, and had a full head of hair. But what is it about that age that causes so many rock stars to not live through it? Perhaps it’s that rock & roll has long preached that excess was best. Maybe by the time we hit 27 our bodies simply can’t take the heat like they used to and conk out like an old jalopy. Was Def Leppard right when they philosophized that it was better to burn out than fade away? Or maybe it’s just some bad numerology karma. If you add up all the numbers between 2 and 7, the total is 27. Perhaps that combination casts some weird voodoo curse that when crossed with musical success increases the odds you’ll expire soon. Here’s a look at some talented musicians, all of whom died too young at that cursed age of 27:
Name: Chris Bell
Band: Big Star
Cause of death: car accident
Year: 1978
Buried: Memphis, TN
Name: D. Boon
Band: Minutemen
Cause of death: car accident
Year: 1985
Buried: Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Name: Kurt Cobain
Band: Nirvana
Cause of death: suicide
Year: 1994
Buried: Ashes scattered in the Wishkah River, WA
Name: Jimi Hendrix
Cause of death: overdose
Year: 1970
Buried: Renton, WA
Name: Robert Johnson
Cause of death: poisoned
Year: 1938
Buried: Morgan City, MS
Name: Brian Jones
Band: The Rolling Stones
Cause of death: drowned
Year: 1969
Buried: Gloucestershire, England
Name: Janis Joplin
Cause of death: overdose
Year: 1970
Buried: Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean
Name: Jimmy McCulloch
Band: Wings
Cause of death: heart attack
Year: 1979
Name: Ron “Pigpen” McKernan
Band: Grateful Dead
Cause of death: alcohol
Year: 1973
Buried: Palo Alto, CA
Name: Jim Morrison
Band: The Doors
Cause of death: heart attack
Year: 1971
Buried: Paris, France
Name: Gary Thain
Band: Uriah Heep
Cause of death: overdose
Year: 1976
Name: Jason Thirsk
Band: Pennywise
Cause of death: suicide
Year: 1996
Buried: Ashes given to family and friends
Name: Al Wilson
Band: Canned Heat
Cause of death: suicide
Year: 1970
Buried: Everett, MA
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03.22.05 at 3:30 am
Good site, good writing, good freakin’ job.
03.22.05 at 7:07 am
Mayor? They should make you President!
02.02.06 at 10:55 pm
its better to burn out then to fade away was not written by def leppard, neil young wrote it. i cant remember the exact song, but its from the rust never sleeps album
02.11.06 at 12:51 am
slick!
02.25.06 at 10:54 pm
I am so amazed by this its really wierd how so many rock stars have died at the age of 27. I’m only 16 so that means i only have 11 years left…
05.09.06 at 9:57 pm
The story behind the curse of 27 is that Robert Johnson, who was a blues guitarist in the 1920s, was so good at guitar that ppl thought he had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for being able to play guitar very well. He alluded to it in his songs. He died at 27, at a very young age and at the height of his popularity, and ppl thought that the devil had killed him. Many other famous rock stars have died young at 27, so maybe they sold their soul too.
08.16.06 at 4:57 am
I love the site, i have been making a similar list in my head for years, but include all artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat.
and i usually give shannon hoon an honorary because he was only a month past 27.
08.24.06 at 3:12 am
gay
08.24.06 at 3:13 am
rip kurt cobain….id fuck you if i could
08.30.06 at 4:49 pm
So many people in the 27 club man do I give my respects to them and I believe that Kurt Cobain’s death was not a suiced it was a fucking murder by his bitch ass wife Courtney Love. If you have anything to say about this then you fucking suck and should stop lying to yourself. I thought this for many years but recently I read a book called “Love and Death” and It’s one of the best books in the world.
peace
xoxo
08.31.06 at 9:58 pm
there is randy rhodes which is not mentioned who also died at 27
01.22.07 at 3:35 am
what about Mia Zapata from the Gits?
02.07.07 at 12:58 pm
im next this month
02.24.07 at 3:02 am
this is weird, but i just think it’s a coincidence. I really don’t believe that they killed themselves to be in the club as so many ppl have put it. I happen to believe that Kurt Cobain killed himself because of the agony in his life. What i do think is weird is that Jimi H. and Kurt knew they were gonna die at a young age years before they actually did. That’s pretty interesting.
02.25.07 at 6:22 am
You should also mention Gram Parsons. And pdxgrl and david w, Mia Zapata got 28, and Randy Rhoads got 26;)
02.27.07 at 11:25 am
Peter Ham of Badfinger died of suicide by hanging at 27
03.12.07 at 9:53 pm
Robert Johnson was 26, not 27, when he died. Close but no ceegar …
Here’s a titbit. When everyone thought Paul McCartney was dead, the cover of the Abbey Road album showed a car with the license plate number ‘28IF’, interepreted by conspiracy theorists to mean ‘28 if still alive’, meaning he would’d croaked at 27.
03.13.07 at 8:28 am
doing a presentation on friday about the most famous 5 of them all..dying at the height of their career all related to drug overdoses.
its interesting and either some serious coincidence or too scared to become an adult…still trying to figure that one out
03.28.07 at 8:41 pm
I reckon Cobain was murdered - how the hell would he inject a potentially lethal dose of heroin, then go up to the room, sit on the floor, shoot himself, wipe the gun, and then lie down in a peaceful position with the gun by his side?? makes no sense. plus, he was going to divorce courney love and she had already tried to hire a hit-man a few weeks earlier but he refused to do it. pretty sus to me.
03.31.07 at 9:33 am
It was so sad when Jim Morrison died. I cried for months.
03.31.07 at 9:39 am
I love Jim Morrison. He was the LIZARD KING! What happened to Jimmy McCulloch’s body? SPOOKY.
03.31.07 at 9:40 am
I LOVE JIM.
07.06.07 at 2:45 pm
Thank you for all of you that said that Kurt Cobain died of murder…that dumb bitch Courtney Love did kill him and i hope that she fucking dies of being tortured::she deserves it….i love you Kurt!!
07.14.07 at 5:51 pm
And to tihnk there are several more…. ok, a LOT more.. how sad. i think conspiracy??
09.12.07 at 12:57 am
Hi Evil eye media is a small media company based in Liverpool UK - we are presently working on a documentary called ‘Forever 27′ which will be based on the whole story of the 27 club and whether it is purely co-incidence or if it is possible that the legend could be real. We are working on research at the moment but eventually we plan to go to America and visit the cities that played a big part in the main 27 club members lives (the main members being Robert Johnson, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain) and we shall also be covering Brian Jones’s story while in Britain filming at all locations.
If anyone has any comments or information for us that may be of use (preferably things we havent come across on the net - personal stories etc) we’d really love to hear from you and if youre information is used we will mention your name in the documentary and depending on where you live possibly arrange to come and film you telling youre story
you can contact us by going to www.evileyemedia.co.uk or emailing info@evileyemedia.co.uk
keep watching our website for the upcoming new page with all the ‘forever 27′ info and research so far and the blog page where you will be able to leave youre stories and comments
have an awesome day people !!!
all @Evil eye media
09.14.07 at 8:55 am
…& just three months past 27, Brad Nowell died at 28. Shame, shame, shame - for all of them.
11.21.07 at 7:50 am
I guess Bradley Nowell and Shannon Hoon missed this list by a year, as they both died at 28? All of these deaths suck because while the world was robbed of some truly great talent, most of these deaths could have been prevented.
BTW: I’m a new reader and I dig your site.
12.04.07 at 12:18 pm
I really don’t know what I think; is it a coincidence or a curse? Just as I don’t know if Kurt commited suicide or not. I always thought he did, but some info I’ve heard has made me suspicious. All I really have to say is … RIP Kurt. I love you.
12.20.07 at 4:07 am
“the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars” — Jack Kerouac
Also, I have always felt that 27 or 28 is the age you actually really become a man, not 18, or 21. They are saved from this.
12.25.07 at 10:47 am
Good post. Awesome site you have here. Very original.
01.21.08 at 8:05 am
Def Leppard didn’t write its better to burn out than fade away Neil Young did on Hey Hey, My My(into the black)
01.25.08 at 12:00 am
In the case of Kurdt Kobain, how can you possibly believe that he was murdered by Courtney Love? I mean, really! Not that you care for my opinion and most everything I have to say will most likely be disregarded, but Courtney Love couldn’t have POSSIBLY physically murdered him. She was reportedly in L.A. a week before his death, and was checked into the same hospital Kurdt fled from as of the Thursday before his death until she found out about his death. Kurdt bought the ammo that killed him without anyone’s knowledge except for the gunshop worker, Dylan Carlson and the taxicab drivers that delivered him to and from the gunshop. His credit cards were cancelled by Courtney so she, as she resonably claims, could find him after his escape. ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ among others claim that there were denied transactions after his death but the truth is, he used his card the same day he fled Exodus Recovery and it went through, but every transaction after that, before his alleged date of death, was declined and there was no other reported usage of the credit card that was in his possession. Not to mention, Courtney herself got the police involved claiming to be his mother. April 4th was the first Courtney even knew Kurt to be IN Seattle. That same day, she sent Calson to Seattle after doing and interview to look for Kurdt at Caitlin Moore’s apartment. Also the same day she asked Detective Grant of Seattle to check Kurt’s house and search Calson’s house. Grant also kept watch on Moore’s apt. I don’t think she would have involved the police and told them to check the house if she’d killed him. Even if she was “involved” with his death, every aspect of her involvement sounds more like a concerned wife looking or her husband than that of a coniving partner in crime. Someone above mentioned she hired a hitman to kill Kurt. Who can prove that information? The only person she sent to the scene of Kurt’s death other than police was Dylan Carlson, and witnesses report that when she phoned Dylan on his progress, he claimed he hadn’t seen Kurt since they bought the gun and she accused him of lying. Why? IF…if, if, if he was the hitman you talk about, why would she not believe he hadn’t found Kurt and why would he lie about it? On April 7th, Kurt’s roommate Cali along with his girlfriend (on Courtney’s command) also searched the house, other than the grounds and the garage, but obviously didn’t find him either. Courtney also told police that she thought Cali was hiding Kurt. So, since Cali coudn’t have possibly been at the house at the time of Kurdt’s fatal gunshot, HE couldn’t be Courtney’s “accomplice.” If HE was her “hitman,” why would Courtney rat him out? To push it off of herself? Even though you say he refused to do it I don’t think a 19 year old kid would keep that kind of information when questioned on the exact subject without bringing Courtney down with him. Even if he could keep such reported information from police, they would be able to trace some sort of lead to a cocaine addicted youth on Kurt’s whereabouts. Plus, that kid would have to be pretty slick to pull off that kind of murder with his girlfriend with him at all times and not leave ANY evidence. Kurt also used the line ‘it’s better to burn out than to fade away’ in his suicide note. Now some believe that the only part of the letter that mentions death is in different handwriting, which also puts Courtney back in the line of questioning, however when those clever “Kurt Cobain-style” words were investigated, they somewhat and though scarcely matched Kobain’s handwriting, but in no way matched Courtney’s. So, my only other defense to this is: Get to the point in your life where you’re low gets even lower, your whole family has lost faith in you, and your depression is unbarable, then take a syringe half-full of black tar heroin and try to maintain your normal handwriting, with or without suicide on your mind. And while your at it, tell the whole world for at least a year before that point that you hate yourself and want to die. Last, but not least, it has been controversial that it would be impossible for Kurdt to take as much heroin as he had in his system, lift a shotgun to the roof of his mouth, pull the trigger, and “wipe away” the fingerprints, but evidence again proves that wrong. From reports in interviews, not to mention police, a number of his dealers said that he would take two full syringes of Mexican black tar heroin, and still be functional and coherent. He was kicked out of one dealer’s home during his missing period before his death because they feared he would OD. He did not. At least, not that time. His history proves from hospital records and Courtney’s and Krist Novoselic’s recollection that he frequently overdosed but could handle immense amounts of heroin before that point. They even kept a shot of an illegal antidote in their home just for Kurdt’s overdoses. Therefore, I see it resonable that he could have raised that shotgun enough to shoot himself. Then there’s the fingerprint issue which is undeniably debatable. ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ yet again failed to mention the details of that for they said that there were no fingerprints on the firearm. The police reports say that there are no LEGIBLE fingerprints on the firearm. So I say again to put yourself in Kurdt’s position with a bloodstream full of heroin, at the end of your rope, pull the trigger of a shotgun aimed at your mouth and expect to keep a firm enough grip on it for police to identify your fringerprints.
I think EVERYONE that believes Kurt Cobain’s case to be a homicide needs to do their homework before being so quick to judge someone like Courtney Love (who I’ll admit, is no saint) of such a haenous crime. She may be a lot of things, but I do not believe a killer, or even an accomplice to or mastermind of, is one of them. Think about it.
P.S. Whoever told you that Kurt was to file for divorce from Courtney obviously hasn’t done their research either, because anyone who knows the first thing about Kurt Cobain OR Kurdt Kobain would know that he would NEVER, even if he’d thought about it or written about it, take such a confrontational action as file for divorce from anybody.
Rest in peace Kurt Cobain
02.11.08 at 2:22 pm
awesome page and one of the most undisclosed topics in rock history. Was why a friend and I began digging into this topic at length - for accuracy and full disclosure of the true story behind the 27s. Please drop by our page and check out what we have going and if you dig it *please sign up for our newsletter* - we won’t let you down
Cheers & thanks for letting me post, Josh
02.18.08 at 6:36 pm
I was listening to “Bro Hymn” right as i saw Jason Thirsk on there. You guys are right on!
02.19.08 at 12:09 pm
[…] Perhaps the status she has achieved is due in part by the fact that her prolific life was cut so short, as other young icons like James Dean, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, the rest of the 27-cursers, or perhaps it is because she lived so unabashedly, offering little or no apologies for her behavior which would never have been scrutinized by the public had she been allowed more privacy. […]
03.09.08 at 12:15 pm
I LOVE you Jim….I LOVE you forever…
) I love them so much.I love Kurt too…
I Love Janis too….he’s my mother…and Jimi is my father
fuck off…i want to die at age 27…
“music is your only friend until the end.”