27 Club: Famous Deaths At Age 27

Origins of the 27 Club

Now known as the most elusive and tragic club in rock n roll history, the 27 Club became a widely-recognized coincidence after the 1994 suicide of Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain, who passed away at the age of 27 alongside other rock notables, such as Jim Morrison of the Doors, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.

The 27 Club gained even further notoriety when 27-year-old Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning in 2011, and while the unlucky club members have been closely associated with musicians, the club has expanded to include artists and entertainers, such as child screen actor Jonathan Brandis, who committed suicide in 2003.

Suicide and Overdoses

Other 27 Club members include Delta Blues great, Robert Johnson, who died of strychnine poisoning after coming onto the wife of the owner of a roadhouse where he was performing. Then there’s Canned Heat guitarist Al “Blind Owl” Wilson, who died from an accidental drug overdose, Ron “pigpen” McKernan of early Grateful Dead fame, who died from acute alcohol poisoning, while The Stooges’ founding bassist, Dave “Zander” Alexander also pass from alcoholism.

Another 27 Club inductee is Peter Ham of Badfinger, who committed suicide in 1975, three days before his 28th birthday.

Chris Bell of Big Star died instantly in a 1978 car crash, while Minutemen punk rocker D. Boon died in a freak auto accident when the band’s van rolled over in 1985. In 1988, tagger turned legitimate artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat died from “acute mixed drug intoxication,” after he openly admitted to shooting a hundred bags of heroin a day.

Mia Zapata

Gits frontwoman Mia Zapata, who stormed Seattle’s male-dominated punk scene was beaten, raped and strangled to death in 1993, leading grunge luminaries like Nirvana and Pearl Jam to raise money to hire a private investigator to track down her murderer, who was finally identified and convicted in 2003.

Last in the 27 Club is Courtney Love’s bandmate, Kristen Pfaff—one of the mourners at Kurt Cobain’s memorial service, who died two months later from a heroin overdose, making the 27 Club, one of the deadliest memberships on earth.