Kurt Cobain: what is the “27 club” and who are its members?

Laura Laplaud 05:00, April 5, 2024

Layered second-hand T-shirts, jeans with holes, checked shirts and Converses on the feet... We remember this silhouette, that of Kurt Cobain, emblem of grunge, who died on April 5, 1994, at the age of 27 years. This founding member and singer of the group Nirvana has since been part of a group called the "27 club".

Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison...

The "27 club" is the nickname given to a group made up of several famous rock and blues artists who have in common that they died at the age of 27. Among them, Brian Jones, founder of the Rolling Stones and guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, guitarist-songwriter, Janis Joplin, singer, Jim Morrison, co-founder of the Doors... all died between July 1969 and July 1971. Kurt Cobain is added to the list upon his death in 1994.

Although they all have in common that they died at the age of 27, they did not die of the same causes. Brian Jones drowned in his swimming pool in 1969, Jimi Hendrix died of asphyxiation following an alcohol-related drug overdose, Janis Joplin overdosed on heroin and Jim Morrison died of a seizure. cardiac. The co-founder of Nirvana commits suicide with a bullet to the head.

Amy Winehouse joined the club in 2011

Added to these deaths was that of Amy Winehouse in 2011. During this period, the singer, songwriter and performer experienced problems with drug addiction, alcoholism and bulimia which were widely reported by the British tabloids. While she had been battling her addictions and eating disorders for several years and was coming out of a three-week alcohol withdrawal period, the

singer  died following the ingestion of a high amount of alcohol after a period of abstinence. She is found dead in her London apartment.

Less known to the general public, bluesman and guitarist Robert Johnson was the first to join the "27 club" in 1938. An influential blues artist, he became a great source of inspiration for artists like Jimi Hendrix.