27 Club member Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson of Canned Heat died forty years ago today. We take a brief look at the bluesman and his career.
“You can run, you can run, tell my friend boy Willie Brown” With those words, rock’s grandfather and 27s archetype Robert Johnson immortalized bluesman Willie Brown in his prophetic “Cross Road Blues.” Cream (Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce), of course, brought the song into the rock canon with their version of the song. While Willie [...]
National Public Radio dubbed Janis Joplin “the Queen of Rock” on a segment that aired this morning. Instead of the typical “best of” (read: “most famous”) track selections, the producers included a live version of “Women Is Losers” from a 1966 performance at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom. “Ball and Chain” from Monterey Pop followed and [...]
Turning thirty is a big deal. Many experience the last years of their twenties as a transitional phase between youth and maturity. Thirty marks the real entry to adulthood—an age where most people have completed their university degrees, found their vocation, and are comfortably settled in a relationship—or not. Renowned astrologer Rob Tillett, who spent the [...]
A couple of years ago Tin Alley drummer Peter Hofbauer hit a kangaroo (yea, they’re an Australian band) while riding his motorcycle. He nearly died the same way Echo & the Bunnymen’s Pete de Freitas did, but three weeks in intensive care put him back on track to recovery. Hofbauer was 27 years old at [...]
Ronald “Pigpen” McKernan Born: September 8, 1945 in San Bruno, California Died: March 8, 1973 in Corte Madera, California Bands: Grateful Dead, The Warlocks, Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions Pigpen was the only showman of the Grateful Dead, a hard drinkin’ bluesman whose improvised blues raps equaled Jerry Garcia’s electric hillbilly guitar licks. Pig was an integral part [...]
Janis Joplin (”Pearl”) Born: January 19, 1943, in Port Arthur, Texas Died: October 4, 1970, in a Los Angeles hotel room Bands: Big Brother and The Holding Company, The Kozmic Blues Band, The Full Tilt Boogie Band Cry Baby – Janis Joplin After a miserable childhood as Port Arthur’s “freak,” “creep,” and “pig” she went to found a [...]
July 14th, 2009 by admin Visual artist Dash Snow who became notorious for his graffiti around New York City died today from a drug overdose aged 27. Dash is the latest in a string of nearly 40 significant artist deaths at 27 over the last century. Other famous 27s include Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, [...]
“The deaths of these rock stars at the age of 27 really changed the way we look at rock music,” National Public Radio's Robert Smith said during an interview with author Eric Segalstad.
Depending on your preference, The 27s is a pop culture phenomenon, a weird curse, or a statistical anomaly. Excess and tragedy are the stuff of music legend, but it is only with hindsight that deeper patterns emerge. None of these is more striking than the deaths at age 27 of some of the greatest musicians of our time.
More famous musicians have died at the age of 27 than any other age. More than three dozen rockers, from Delta bluesmaster Robert Johnson to Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain.
The 27s also include crooner Jesse Belvin ("Earth Angel," "Goodnight My Love"), Rudy Lewis of the Drifters, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Malcolm Hale of Spanky And Our Gang, Alan Wilson from Canned Heat, Arlester Christian of Dyke And the Blazers, Jim Morrison, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan of the Grateful Dead, Pete Ham of Badfinger, Gary Thain of Uriah Heep and Keef Hartley Band, Roger Lee Durham of Bloodstone, Helmut Köllen of Triumvirat, Chris Bell of Big Star, D. Boon of Minutemen, Pete de Freitas of Echo & the Bunnymen, Mia Zapata of the Gits, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Kristin Pfaff of Hole, Raymond "Freaky Tah" Rogers of Lost Boyz, Sean McCabe of Ink & Dagger, Jeremy Michael Ward of De Facto and The Mars Volta, Bryan Ottoson of American Head Charge, and Valentin Elizalde.
