The 27 Club is one of the most mystifying and fascinating phenomena in pop culture history. This topic of conversation dominated the public consciousness following Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994. The 27 Club began after the deaths of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin, who all died within a year of each other, each at the age of 27.

The 27 Club now encompasses musicians, actors, artists, and other creatives that have lost their lives to addiction, suicide, or other tragic incidents over the last century–all at the age of 27. The emergence of the 27 Club birthed the urban legend that musicians are statistically more likely to die at that age, though the myth has since been scientifically refuted.

Jimi Hendrix

Though his legendary career may have been brief, Jimi Hendrix is remembered as one of the greatest electric guitarists in music history. Hendrix died in September 1970 after combining alcohol with a deadly dose of the potent sleeping medication Vesparax and choking on his own vomit in his sleep.

Hendrix was pronounced dead after his then-girlfriend and German figure skater Monika Dannemann found him breathing but unresponsive on the morning of his death and called for an ambulance. He reportedly took nine of the sleeping pills–eighteen times the recommended dosage. The sleeping pills belonged to Dannemann, but Hendrix was known for his heavy drug use and habit of taking random assortments of pills without knowing what 5they were.

Janis Joplin

Three weeks after the death of Jimi Hendrix in October 1970, Janis Joplin was found dead of an accidental heroin overdose at the Landmark Motor Hotel in Los Angeles, California. After injecting a dose of herion, she went down to the hotel lobby to buy a pack of cigarettes. Upon returning to her room, the bluesy psychedelic rockstar collapsed after tripping on the carpet and hitting her head on a bedside table.

Peggy Caserta, a close friend and rumored partner of Joplin’s, said in her memoir, I Ran Into Some Trouble, that she believes the fall to have been the cause of death. However, other customers of Joplin’s heroin dealer also overdosed in the same week as Joplin, who was known for having developed alcohol and heroin addictions early in her career.

Jim Morrison

Considering the confusing and vague circumstances surrounding his death, Jiim Moorison’s death in Paris, France in July 1971 is often the subject of various conspiracy theories concerning The Doors’ frontman’s cause of death. The Lizard King himself was well known for his chaotic and erratic behavior onstage and intense drinking habits. Morrison is said to have died of a heart attack caused by a heroin overdose after mistaking the drug for cocaine.

His girlfriend at the time, Pamela Courson, found him dead in the bathtub of their Paris home. However, no autopsy was performed on Morrison’s body as it wasn’t required by French law at the time, leaving many fans and friends of his suspicious of his cause of death; some believe he faked his death to live life privately and away from the public eye.

Kurt Cobain

Some might consider the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain the “beginning” of the 27 Club. Yes, the early 1970s saw the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison all in less than a year. However, Cobain’s death by suicide in April 1994 promped people to take note of the age at which these seemingly doomed stars were meeting their ends, thus coining the “27 Club.”

The grunge icon publicly struggled with drugs and alcohol, and in the months leading to his death, Cobain also attempted suicide and entered a detox program that he ultimately left early. Cobain was found dead in his home by an electrician who discovered the shotgun he used to commit suicide, along with a note addressed to his childhood imaginary friend, Boddah.

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse’s passing is one of the more recent additions to the 27 Club. The London native was known for her powerful voice, signature beehive hairstyle, and bluesy sound. But as the Grammy Award winner’s star rose, she publicly struggled with a tumultuous relationship that fueled an addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Many attribute Winehouse’s downturn to the extensive media attention she received, considering her rise to fame happening at the same time as the rise of social media, the internet, and tabloid publications. Although she sought treatment and entered rehab more than once–even during the year leading up to her death–Winehouse died of accidental alcohol poisoning after a brief stint of sobriety on July 23, 2011.

Conclusion

The 27 Club is indeed a fascinating phenomenon in pop culture history. For decades now, a kind of statistical significance has been attached to the 27 Club, given the enigmatic and untimely deaths of icons like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse. However, the urban legend that artists are more likely to meet tragic ends at 27 was disproven in a 2014 study conducted at the University of Sydney.

The tragic deaths of these larger-than-life artists serves as a reminder of the dangers of addiction and importance of seeking help when one is struggling with mental illness, relationship issues, or substance use. At the same time, the lives and deaths of those of the 27 Club illuminate the complex struggles and vulnerability experienced by even the most brilliant and successful creatives.