The Exclusive 27 Club

Clubs. We all want to be part of the club, whether it be chess, soccer, or the elite country club. But is it possible to be part of a club, that you didn’t choose, or even want to join? Believe it or not, that club exists, and it’s members are what many would consider to be the best of the best. That club, is the 27 club.

The 27 club is an elite, yet tragic club. Members must achieve greatness before dying at the age of 27. While the general public didn’t become aware of the club until 1994, when rock artist and lead singer for the band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain died, it goes back to the 1930’s, and possibly as early as 323 BC, with some believing Alexander the Great was the first member (though he died at the age of 33).

Greek mythology tells a tale of Alexander III of Macedon, later known as Alexander the Great, making a pact with the god Zeus. He was given a choice, to live a long life without ever achieving glory, or gain everlasting fame and glory, and live a short life. History tells us that he chose the short life, dying in 323 BC at the age of 33. Not quite a member of the 27 club, but it does set the stage for what was to come.

In the 1930’s, a blues singer, songwriter, and musician named Robert Johnson wanted to be more. He wasn’t the best, and some would even say he wasn’t good. He had a hard life, growing up and working on a plantation, to losing his wife in childbirth. In the end, he turned to alcohol and the blues. It was all he had, and he wanted to be the greatest.

One night, Robert took his guitar down to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. There he was met by the devil himself.

Robert was gone for several years. So long in fact, that the very people who didn’t think he was any good at playing music began to wonder where he was. Then one day, there he was. He sat down to play, and the music he made was like nothing they had ever heard before. He had added a 6th string to his guitar, and his fingers worked magic across the strings. He recorded songs about hellhounds, the devil, making a deal at the crossroads. Although Robert recorded less than 50 songs, his music, unique for the time, became the roots of what we now know as rock-n-roll. He had become the greatest bluesman to ever play.

Then, in August 1938, just a few months after his 27th birthday, Robert Johnson made a move on the wife of the owner of a roadhouse where he was playing. He was offered an open bottle of whiskey, which he promptly drank from, and died just three days later of strychnine poisoning and pneumonia.

Just like Alexander, Robert had made a deal, except his was with the devil. His death made him the first “official” member of the 27 club.

The next member to be formally named is the founder of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones. It was 1969, and Brian had just been replaced in the band. Normally that would be enough to drive someone over the edge, especially considering the success of the Rolling Stones, however friends of Brian’s said he was never happier, and was planning to start a whole new band. That is until his time ran out. July 3, 1969, Brian Jones was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool. Brian was only 27.

September 17, 1970, legendary guitarist, Jimi Hendrix was having difficulty sleeping. Could it have been caused by the barking and clawing sounds of the hellhounds? Regardless, he took nine sleeping pills instead of his usual 2. He was finally able to sleep, but he slept too soundly. Jimi vomited in his sleep, inhaled it, and died. You guessed it, Jimi Hendrix was only 27.

October 4, 1970, the body of Janis Joplin was discovered in her hotel room at the Landmark Hotel in Hollywood after she failed to show up for a recording session. Her death was the result of a heroin overdose. While her friends had begged her to stop using the drugs, Janis knew it didn’t matter. Her days were limited. She told her friends, “Let’s face it, I’ll never see 30.” Again, she was only 27.

July 3, 1971, lead singer for The Doors, Jim Morrison, was found dead in a bathtub in his Paris apartment. He had apparently died of a heroin overdose, a drug he supposedly never took. Oddly, his death certificate was quickly signed by a French doctor who had never existed. His funeral was only 5 days later, and makes you wonder what they were trying to cover up. Had Jim Morrison made a deal with the devil? He was 27.

Fast forward to the man who brought the club to the mainstream. March 4, 1994, while in Rome seeking treatment for bronchitis and laryngitis, guitarist and frontman for the band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain was rushed to the hospital after an overdose on champagne and Rohypnol. He spent five days in the hospital before being released. He returned to Seattle with his wife, Courtney Love. According to Courtney, this was Kurt’s first suicide attempt.

March 18, 1994, Kurt had locked himself in a room with a gun. His wife called the police, letting them know he was suicidal. When they arrived, they confiscated several guns as well as a bottle of pills from Kurt – who insisted he was not suicidal, instead insisting he had only locked himself in the room to hide from his wife.

On March 25, 1994, Courtney arranged an intervention regarding Kurt’s drug use. By the end of the day, he agreed to undergo a detox program. On March 30, 1994, Kurt checked into the Exodus Recovery Center in Los Angeles, California. The staff there were never made aware of his history of depression and the prior suicide attempt. Friends visited and he showed no sign of trouble. He even spent time playing with his daughter, Frances. The following night, Kurt fled the facility, climbing over a six-foot fence and taking a taxi to LAX. He flew back to Seattle.

During his flight home, Kurt sat next to Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, despite his own animosity toward the band. He seemed genuinely happy to see him. Duff McKagan later reported that he knew from “all my instincts that something was wrong.”

Friends and family were unaware of Kurt’s return to Seattle, and on April 2 and 3, he was spotted in different places around Seattle. His wife, Courtney hired a private investigator to find him, and he was not seen at all the next day.

On April 7, Kurt Cobain’s band, Nirvana decided to pull out of the 1994 Lollapalooza Music Festival, and rumors began to swirl of Nirvana breaking up. Who would have guessed that the next day, April 8, 1994, the body of Kurt Cobain was discovered at his Lake Washington Boulevard home by the electrician who had arrived to install a security system. There were no visible signs of trauma, and the electrician initially thought he was asleep – until he spotted a shotgun pointing at his chin.

A suicide note was found, addressed to Kur’s childhood imaginary friend, Boddah. The note stated that he had not “felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing … for too many years now.” Tox reports showed a high concentration of heroin and traces of diazepam in his system. He had been dead for days, and the coroner estimated him to have died on April 5, 1994 – of an apparent suicide.

Kurt Cobain was only 27.

Could this have been a coincidence, or did Kurt know something was coming for him. Had he too, made a deal? After his death, Kurt Cobain’s mother, Wendy O’Conner was quoted as saying, “I told him not to join that stupid club.”

The list goes on and on…

So, is it simply coincidence that these artists have achieved greatness and died at the age of 27, or were they made an offer they couldn’t refuse.

Name	Claim to Fame	Date of Death
Robert Johnson	American Blues Legend	August 16, 1938
Rudy Lewis	R&B Singer – The Drifters	May 20, 1964
Brian Jones	Founder – The Rolling Stones	July 3, 1969
Jimi Hendrix	Rock Guitarist	September 18, 1970
Janis Joplin	Blues Singer	October 4, 1970
Jim Morrison	Frontman – The Doors	July 3, 1971
Ron McKernan	Founder – The Grateful Dead	March 8, 1973
Jean-Michel Basquiat	Graphic Artist	August 12, 1988
Reggie Lewis	Forward – Boston Celtics	July 27, 1993
Kurt Cobain	Frontman – Nirvana	April 5, 1994
Jonathan Brandis	Actor – SeaQuest DSV	November 12, 2003
Pat Tillman	Safety – Arizona Cardinals	April 22, 2004
Amy Winehouse	R&B and Soul Singer	July 23, 2011
Anton Yelchin	Actor – Star Trek (Chekov)	June 19, 2016

The 27 Club is like a secret society – just like the Illuminati. Did you know some thing the death of Jon Benet Ramsey was a sacrifice for the Illuminati?