Singer Amy Winehouse, found dead in her London apartment, now joins the ranks of Kurt Corbain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Brian Jones – musicians who all died at the age of 27.
Janis joplin
Jimi Hendrix
Jim Morrison
We wrote about The 27 Club in 7 Secrets, in the chapter on clusters, and here on the blog. Charles R. Cross, who wrote biographies of both Cobain and Hendrix, wrote that the number of musicians who die at this age is “truly remarkable by any standard.” Brian Jones and Jim Morrison actually died on the same date two years apart.
There’s quite a lot of information about this club on the internet. One website lists 34 musicians who died at the age of 27, dating back as far as 1892.
This website includes a partial list of names with dates, causes of death, and “claim to notability.” And contrary to what you might assume based on the deaths of the more prominent members of this club, drug overdoses aren’t always the cause:
Roger Lee Durham, with Bloodstone, died in 1973 when he fell off a horse.
Arlester Christian 3/13/71 Shot. Vocalist of Dyke & the Blazers, was shot in 1971.
Linda Jones, an R&B singer, died while in a diabetic coma in 1972.
Alexander Bashlachev, a Russian poet, rock musician and songwriter, committed suicide in 1988 by “jumping.”
So what’s the deeper message with The 27 Club?
and what’s our numbers expert’s take on the 27? cj – i know you can give us the fascinating details –
That would be assassinated, not assinate. Geeze. It’s getting late…
It is certainly odd how so many musicians died at 27. The 23rd (my birthday) was a strange day for me: the news of Amy’s death, a nurse being charged with killing 5 patients in an English hospital (could be more) and then the dreadful happenings in Oslo. Why do such things happen? It had me thinking about life until my son was at our door, holding our grandson who put out his arms for me to hold him. It felt as if he knew I needed his hug to put the world right. I’m sure he’s an old soul.
Happy belated b-day, Mike!
i think your grandson has the answers we all are looking for – it’s all about love –
and happy happy, mike!
Ditto to that. Happy Birthday, Mike. 🙂
Sounds like my tenth birthday, Mike, when President Kennedy was assinated and I was witness to a little dog run over by a distraught driver.
oh, geeeeeee, nancy!
just an aside to the mention of jfk – i remember thinking on that dark day that with his death so many other things had also died – and just last night i caught a glimpse of someone on tv saying that since robert kennedy no major political figure had attacked the issue of poverty in this country as he had – the black/white footage of him walking among those in the most dire circumstances, literally/physically reaching out to them, was just as powerful today as it was then – sorry i digress –
I think Amy Winehouse was actually 28 when she died. But there do seem to be time-based sychronicities between Amy and the “official” members of this group. See my post at synchronicitycode.com which briefly explores the Hendrix/Joplin/Morrison to Kobain to Winehouse sequencing. It is a sad sequence. Not one I like to dwell on personally. +JAG
J. – Her birthday is listed as Sept. 14, 1983. If so, she was still 27. Will check out your link. Thanks.
Oops. I think you are right. I wrote her birthdate wrong in my notes. I’ll also correct it in my post. Thanks! +JAG
We linked to your blog and have ordered your book. Can’t wait to read it.
I heard this discussed on Coast to Coast AM awhile ago. What I vaguely remember is that in numerology, the number 27 adds up to 9, which is an ending number. Also, there might be something to do with “Saturn return”, where people often feel a big push to make a change in their lives around age 29-30. Perhaps these live hard, play hard rockers subconsciously don’t want to make the transition into the middle phase of their lives, so the body finds a way for them to exit this world before then. It is a strange phenomenon.