→ November 23, 2009
Stan Polley (1922-2009), one of rock’s allegedly most crooked managers died July 20, 2009, in California.During the 1960s and 1970s he managed <a href=”http://www.the27club.net/tag/badfinger”>Badfinger</a>, Al Kooper, Lou Christia, and Charles Calello and others. Over the years, Polley’s reputation as a ruthless manager has been documented in books by Al Kooper and Dan Matovina, and according [...]
→ November 21, 2009
Raymond Rogers (”Freaky Tah,” “Tahleek”) Born: May 14, 1971, in Queens, New York Died: March 28, 1999, in Queens, New York Member of: Lost Boyz, 134 Allstars 1, 2, 3 – Lost Boyz Like the blues, hip-hop’s ethos is to create something from nothing, makin’ a way outta no way, and it’s not surprising that a lot of hip-hop’s [...]
Nat Jaffe Born: January 1, 1918 in New York City Died: August 5, 1945, in New York City After a childhood spent in Germany, pianist Nat Jaffe became part of the NYC jazz scene. In addition to heading his own bands, Jaffe recorded with Joe Marsala, Louis Armstrong (1938), Jack Teagarden (1939-40), Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan [...]
→ November 16, 2009
The 27s won the 2009 IPPY award for popular culture We just came back from New York City and Book Expo, which is the largest book trade show in the country. Long lines for our official author signing and we even ran out of books. Thanks to everybody who showed up! Friday night we headed down to [...]
→ November 15, 2009
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.
