The 27 Club
Sunday April 5th 2020 marked the 26th anniversary since the death of legendary rocker Kurt Cobain. The lead singer of Nirvana tragically took his life at age 27 in his hometown of Seattle in Washington, and was found three days later by an electrician installing a security system in his home.
Despite the initial suspicion towards his wife Courtney Love, his death was ultimately ruled a suicide by gunshot, after ingesting an almost fatal amount of Valium and heroin. The events leading up to this saw him slip into a coma in Italy a month prior after overdosing on champagne and Rohypnol, the ‘date rape’ drug. It was additionally public knowledge that Kurt battled an addiction to cocaine.
He had continued to threaten suicide in the months leading to April 5th 1994 after a failed stint in rehabilitation in Lose Angeles, and law enforcement had previously confiscated the four guns he possessed in 1991.
Cobain was then inducted into the “27 Club'“.
So what is it about the 27 club? Is it simply a coincidence, or is it the notoriety? Or perhaps they were simply too talented for this world.
The names of artists who have passed away don’t go unnoticed:
Avicii - DJ ( 1989 - 2018)
Amy Winehouse - Singer (1983-2011)
Jimi Hendrix - Singer & Guitarist (1942 - 1970)
Janis Joplin - Singer (1943- 1970)
Alan Wilson - Singer of Canned Heat (1943 - 1970)
Robert Johnson - Blue singer (1911-1968)
Brian Jones - original leader of The Rolling Stones (1942 - 1969)
Jean-Michel Basquiat - Artist (1960 -1988)
Jim Morrison - Lead singer of The Doors (1943 - 1971)
Jean-Michael Basquiat (right) and Andy Warhol.
Source: Rolling Stone
So what is it about 27? The late rapper Juice Wrld released a song “Legends” detailing an eerie prediction of not living to age 27; he died not long after aged 21.
Fellow rapper Mac Miller released a song containing “I hopin’ not to join the twenty seven club”; he later died at 26.
Whilst the list of those artists who have died at aged is not extensive by any means (only 1.3% of musicians between 1950-2010), it is a Club that symbolises a place to be immortalised, and become martyred for their music.
These artists had an incredible musical impact on their generation, adding to the tragedy of their passing; the are still considered icons. Whilst the majority of these deaths were drug/alcohol related, perhaps it is the pressure of fame during the peak of their career that becomes overwhelming.
Janis Joplin had died of a heroin overdose following the death of Jimi Hendrix by asphyxiation after consuming copious amounts of red wine and sleeping pills three weeks earlier. Jim Morrison allegedly mistook heroin for cocaine in a Paris hotel, snorting a fatal amount; similar to that of Alan Wilson who died of a drug overdose. Amy Winehouse succumbed to her addictions in 2011 dying of alcohol poisoning, whilst Brian Jones was found at the bottom of his swimming pool allegedly drowning under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Whether a mythological concept or an exclusive club littered with some of the most talented artists of our time, we have no doubt lost some incredible individuals which makes you wonder what could’ve been.
Kurt Cobain’s mother Wendy O’Connor was not impressed with the timing of his death, infamously declared that “now he’s gone and joined that stupid club, I told him not to join that club”.
For now, Smells Like Teen Spirit will remain my high school anthem.