The 27 Club has been around for a while. Its members include musicians who all died at the age of 27. Some of them are considered to be among the most talented of their generation; however, because they struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, their lives were unnecessarily cut short. Some of the musicians that we have on this list are not as well known as the others, which is why they haven’t been mythologized in the same way. We have rounded up some of the more famous members of the 27 Club. It’s a pretty exclusive club – see for yourself!
10. Brian Jones
Brian Jones was the founder and original bandleader of the Rolling Stones. He died less than a month after he left the band. He had been struggling with alcohol and drug addiction and died under rather questionable circumstances. He was found at the bottom of his swimming pool. Police ruled that his death was caused by “misadventure.”
9. Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin died from an accidental heroin overdose back in 1970. Her road manager believes that the heroin that she took on the night of her death was much more potent than it usually was, as several of her dealer’s other customers had also accidentally overdosed that same week.
8. Alan Wilson
Alan Wilson – guitarist for Canned Heat – was found dead behind his band mate Bob Hite’s Topanga Canyon’s house in 1970. Cause of death was ruled an accidental overdose of barbiturates, although it has sometimes been reported as a suicide because he had suffered from depression and had reportedly attempted suicide a few months prior to his death.
7. Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix died in 1970 from drug-related complications. He had been drinking when he reportedly took nine Vesparax sleeping tablets, which was 18 times the recommended dosage. His death was ruled an accident.
6. Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison is believed to have died of heart failure or a heroin overdose. His common-law partner, Pamela Courson, found him in their Paris apartment’s bathtub. No autopsy was performed because French officials found no evidence of foul play. As a result, there are endless conspiracy theories about his death.
5. Ronald McKernan
Ronald McKernan was one of the members of the Grateful Dead. He was a big fan of alcohol, which he began drinking when he was just an adolescent. He died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage, which was caused by his alcoholism, in 1974.
4. Pete Ham
Pete Ham was the guitarist for the ‘70s rock group, Badfinger. When the band became embroiled in internal, financial and managerial problems, their music ended up taking the backseat. In 1975, when their salaries stopped coming in and their manager was incommunicado, Ham saw suicide as the only option. He hanged himself in his garage and left a note expressing his frustration with his manager.
3. Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain struggled with heroin addiction and depression. He had tried to kill himself in Rome, Italy, in March 1994, but Courtney Love was able to get him help in time. A month later, he successfully committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. To this day, many fans are convinced that it was murder, not suicide, and that Love was involved.
2. Kristen Pfaff
Kristen Pfaff was one of the mourners at Kurt Cobain’s memorial and the bassist in the band Hole. Just a couple months after Cobain died, she was found dead in her apartment, surrounded by syringes and drug paraphernalia. Her death was attributed to acute opiate intoxication.
1. Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. Before she died from accidental alcohol poisoning, many believed that she had already kicked the habit and was on her way to making a comeback.
