I think it was a performance by Dion during an anniversary broadcast of American Bandstand which first alerted me to the so-called 27 Club phenomenon.
Dion (last name: DiMucci) struggled with substance abuse during his career, so he sang his hit Abraham, Martin & John with new lyrics in memory of late rock stars Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Brian Jones. Not surprisingly, it was called Jimi, Janis and Brian. All three of its subjects also had well-known substance abuse problems, and all died at age 27 in 1969 and 1970. It was after the death of Doors lead vocalist and frontman Jim Morrison, in 1971, that people began to highlight the coincidence that all four were 27 years old. By this time, if you were a well-known popular music figure, and you died at age 27 due to drug or alcohol abuse or misadventure — you were considered a member of The 27 Club.
It’s a cultural phenomenon. But is it accurate? A 2011 study found in the British Medical Journal concluded there was no significant increased risk of death for 27 year old musicians. In fact, the study found equally small increases at ages 25 and 32.
I decided to go through all the deaths in popular music from the 1960s to April, 2024. I highlighted not just those who were 27 when they died, but everyone from age 25 to 32, as the study suggests. Premature deaths. I made a list of those who died of drug or alcohol-related health issues, misadventure or drug-related suicides and overdoses. I didn’t include other kinds of suicide. My findings support the urban myth of The 27 Club — those who died were more likely to be 27 years old than any other age between 25 and 32.
Between 1962 and 2024, I found 63 deaths in popular music related to addictions, misadventure or substance overdoses. Of those, 14 individuals were 27 years old — 22% of them, compared to 15% who were 28, 13% who were 26 or 29 years old, 11% who were 32 years old, 9% who were 25 or 31 years old, and 6% who were 30 years old.
Here’s the list:
25
Frankie Lymon, Teenagers vocalist (Feb. 27, 1968)
Zeke Zettner, Stooges bassist (Nov. 10, 1973)
Tommy Bolin, Deep Purple / James Gang guitarist (Dec. 4, 1976)
James Honeyman-Scott, Pretenders guitarist (June 16, 1982)
Paul Gardiner, Tubeway Army / Gary Numan bassist (Feb. 4, 1984)
Charlie Ondras, Unsane drummer (June 22, 1992)
26
Baby Huey, Babysitters frontman (Oct. 28, 1970)
Gram Parsons, Byrds / Flying Burrito Brothers vocalist & guitarist (Sept. 19, 1973)
Nick Drake, singer-songwriter (Nov. 25, 1974)
Jimmy McCullough, Wings lead guitarist (Sept. 27, 1979)
Malcolm Owen, Ruts vocalist (July 14, 1980)
George Scott III, Contortions / John Cale bassist (Aug. 5, 1980)
Hillel Slovak, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist (June 25, 1988)
Malcolm McCormick aka Mac Miller, rapper (Sept. 7, 2018)
27
Brian Jones, Rolling Stones multi-instrumentalist (July 3, 1969)
Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson, Canned Heat vocalist & guitarist (Sept. 3, 1970)
Jimi Hendrix (Sept. 18, 1970)
Janis Joplin (Oct. 4, 1970)
Jim Morrison, Doors lead vocalist (July 3, 1971)
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Grateful Dead keyboardist (March 8, 1973)
Dave Alexander, Stooges bassist (Feb. 10, 1975)
Gary Thain, Uriah Heep bassist (Dec. 8, 1975)
Kurt Cobain, Nirvana singer-guitarist (April 5, 1994)
Kristen Pfaff, Hole bassist (June 16, 1994)
Jeremy Ward, Mars Volta sound tec and vocal operator (May 25, 2003)
Brian Ottoson, American Head Charge guitarist (April 19, 2005)
Davor “Moskri” Bobić, Prti Bee Gee lead rapper (Aug. 25, 2005)
Amy Winehouse, vocalist (July 23, 2011)
28
Tim Buckley, singer-songwriter (June 29, 1975)
Keef Cowboy, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five MC (Sept. 8, 1989)
Nigel Preston, Cult drummer (April 1, 1992)
Dave Rubenstein, Reagan Youth singer (July 3, 1993)
Bradley Nowell, Sublime lead vocalist/guitarist (May 25, 1996)
Wes Berggren, Tripping Daisy guitarist (Oct. 27, 1999)
Sean Costello, blues guitarist (April 15, 2008)
James Sullivan aka The Rev, Avenged Sevenfold drummer (Dec. 28, 2009)
Eyedea, rapper (Oct. 16, 2010)
Kyle Pavone, We Came As Romans vocalist/keyboardist (Aug. 25, 2018)
29
Walter “Papoose” Nelson, Fats Domino guitarist (Feb. 28, 1962)
Brian Cole, Association bassist, vocalist (Aug. 2, 1972)
Danny Whitten, Crazy Horse guitarist (Nov. 18, 1972)
Noel Rota aka Helno, Lucrate Milk vocalist (January 22, 1993)
Rob Jones, Wonder Stuff bassist (July 31, 1993)
Erik “Grim” Brødreskift, Borknagar drummer (Oct. 4, 1999)
DJ Screw (Nov. 16, 2000)
Jay Reatard, singer-guitarist (January 13, 2010)
30
Pete Farndon, Pretenders bassist (April 14, 1983)
Andy Gibb, vocalist (March 10, 1988)
Steve Clark, Def Leppard guitarist (January 8, 1991)
Carl Crack, Atari Teenage Riot MC (Sept. 6, 2001)
31
Terry Kath, Chicago lead guitarist & vocalist (January 23, 1978)
Steve Peregrin Took, Tyrannosaurus Rex percussionist (Oct. 27, 1980)
Dwayne Goettel, Skinny Puppy keyboardist (Aug. 23, 1995)
Bobby Sheehan, Blues Traveller bassist (Aug. 20, 1999)
Zac Foley, EMF bassist (January 3, 2002)
Cory Monteith, Glee singer (July 13, 2013)
32
Brian Epstein, Beatles manager (Aug. 27, 1967)
Keith Moon, Who drummer (Sept. 7, 1978)
John Bonham, Led Zeppelin drummer (Sept. 25, 1980)
Paul Hewson, Dragon keyboardist (January 9, 1985)
Michael Leonard Mann aka Hollywood Fats, King Biscuit / Blasters / John Lee Hooker guitarist (Dec. 8, 1986)
Rob Pilatus, Milli Vanilli singer (April 2, 1998)
Luke Bell, country musician (Aug. 26, 2022)
And here’s a 27 Club playlist for you:
• • •
Area Resident is an Ottawa-based journalist, recording artist, music collector and re-seller. Hear (and buy) his music on Bandcamp, email him HERE, follow him on Instagram and check him out on Discogs.
