27... A myth or a curse?

Do we really want to die young? Is dying young, a way of immortalizing oneself? Is it a myth or curse?


Forever 27 club, Club 27 or Curse 27. It is known by many names. Are you still puzzled? Well if you are a musician then better take this seriously.

Brian Jones (Aerosmith), Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse are few of the numerous rockers that have succumbed at the age TWENTY SEVEN. The number has now become an icon in the history of rock and roll. There has been numerous debates, discussions and investigations on the subject but none has come to any rigid conclusions about the mysterious death of music personalities at the age of 27.


Ironically most of the deaths are also disputed as the cause is not unanimous or certain which adds to the mystery. In July 1969, the estranged Aerosmith co-founder Brian Jones was discovered motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool. By the time he was rescued it was too late. The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure" and included that his heart and liver were enlarged due to heavy drugs and alcohol abuse.

Surprisingly Mick Jagger and Keith Richard didn't attend his funeral. Many instruments and expensive items were stolen after his death including future projects (rumour). Later in 1993 it was reported that Jones was murdered by Frank Thorogood, a builder who was staying as Jones' guest during his murder. Thorogood also accepted it on his death bed. 2009, Sussex police decided to review the case for the first time. In Daily Mail on Sunday Scott Jones said that Thorogood killed Jones during a fight and the case was covered up senior police officials. The Sussex police finally decided to close the review and not to reopen it again. The police said that they couldn't gather evidence to prove the coroner's statement of "death by misadventure" wrong.

Jimi Hendrix died due to asphyxia but the death report and autopsy came under the scanner due to contradictory facts. 2009, Richard Wright wrote in a book that Hendrix was murdered by his manager, Mike Jeffrey who confessed it to Wright. In 2011, Bob Levine, an business associate of Wright quashed the allegations as marketing gimmick by Wright for the sale of his book.

The most mysterious of them have been Kurt Cobain's death. Official report stated that he was found with a shotgun laying on his chest, a deep head wound and a suicide note. It was termed as suicide. Later Tom Grant, a private investigator hired by Courtney Love after Kurt's mysterious disappearance from rehabilitation said that it was a homicide. Based on Grant's theory several attempts have been made by authors, film-makers and reporters to uncover the unknown last few days of Kurt Cobain.

Film-maker Nick Broomfield's investigation led to El Duce, who claimed that Courtney Love offered him 50000 USD to kill Kurt Cobain . Surprisingly Duce died  few days later in a train accident before he could reveal the name of the killer.

No autopsy was performed for Jim Morrison which led to controversies about his death. A book also suggested that Jim Morrison was alive and the death was faked.

Suicide or Homicide? Drug Overdose or Accident? Fake or Real?

The biggest question still remains why? Why 27?

A Mail story stated "The idea stars such as Amy Winehouse all die at the same age isn't true"

Other research shows that musicians in their 20's or 30's are two or three times more likely to die than normal people. But the death count of young musicians were much higher before the 1980's when drug abuse and living-on-the-edge lifestyle was more prevalent. 

Professor Barnett of Queensland University of Technology conducted a mathematical analysis on the number 27 and came to the conclusion that there was no peak in the risk of death at this age.

Some numerological and astrological studies suggest that 27 is a key number as it adds upto to three. It also marks the Saturn's return and major transformation in life. The sun also rotates 27 degree on its axis, and the moon's lunar cycle. 

In December  2011, a British Medical Journal concluded that the dying of famous musicians at the age of 27 was co-incidental, and the risk of death from their lifestyle was increased, but not limited to the age of 27.

Though it still remains a mystery to many but one resemblance can be observed in most of the cases about how the musicians perished in order to cope with their larger than life avatar. Drugs, alcohol and violence builds insecurities and vulnerability in them. Dying at 27 maybe a co-incidence but the end was self brought.