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Amy Winehouse Yui Mok/PA Wire/Press Association Images
27 club

Gallery: The strange phenomenon of the '27 Club'

Amy Winehouse passed away aged 27 – the latest in a line of influential musicians to do so. But who are the club’s other members?
10.49am, 25 Jul 2011
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THE DEATH OF Amy Winehouse on Saturday made her the latest member of a dark club: influential musicians who died at the age of 27.

The club’s existence was first suggested after the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Doors vocalist Jim Morrison and Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, who all passed away between 1969 and 1971. But its macabre membership extends much further, from early blues musician Robert Johnson to rapper and Tupac collaborator Stretch. There’s even been a book about it.

Here TheJournal.ie looks at some of the other esteemed members:

Gallery: The strange phenomenon of the '27 Club'
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  • The 27 Club

    Robert Johnson, pioneering blues guitarist: Suspected strychnine poisoning, 1938. (AP Photo/Justin M. Norton)

  • The 27 Club

    Brian Jones: Drowned in swimming pool, 1969. (Barratts/EMPICS)

  • The 27 Club

    Janis Joplin: Probable heroin overdose, 1970. (AP Photo)

  • The 27 Club

    Jimi Hendrix: Choked on vomit, 1970. (Barratts/EMPICS)

  • The 27 Club

    Jim Morrison: heart failure, 1971 (Topham)

  • The 27 Club

    Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson of Canned Heat: barbiturate overdose, 1970. (via brizzle born and bred on Flickr)

  • The 27 Club

    Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan of the Grateful Dead (far left): Gastrointestinal hemorrhage associated with alcoholism, 1973. (AP Photo)

  • The 27 Club

    Kurt Cobain: suicide, 1994 (Mark J Terrill/AP)

  • The 27 Club

    Richey James Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers: missing since 1995 and officially presumed dead. (Nick Tansley/EMPICS)

  • The 27 Club

    Amy Winehouse: cause of death not yet confirmed. (Yui Mok/PA Wire)
  • Robert Johnson, pioneering blues guitarist: Suspected strychnine poisoning, 1938. (AP Photo/Justin M. Norton)
  • Brian Jones: Drowned in swimming pool, 1969. (Barratts/EMPICS)
  • Janis Joplin: Probable heroin overdose, 1970. (AP Photo)
  • Jimi Hendrix: Choked on vomit, 1970. (Barratts/EMPICS)
  • Jim Morrison: heart failure, 1971 (Topham)
  • Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson of Canned Heat: barbiturate overdose, 1970. (via brizzle born and bred on Flickr)
  • Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan of the Grateful Dead (far left): Gastrointestinal hemorrhage associated with alcoholism, 1973. (AP Photo)
  • Kurt Cobain: suicide, 1994 (Mark J Terrill/AP)
  • Richey James Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers: missing since 1995 and officially presumed dead. (Nick Tansley/EMPICS)
  • Amy Winehouse: cause of death not yet confirmed. (Yui Mok/PA Wire)

Author
Michael Freeman
michael@thejournal.ie
@michfreeman
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