Is it more than just a coincidence that so many rock stars have died of questionable deaths at the age of 27? Regrettable a fatal club has arisen from the number of talented and influential musicians who’ve died at a young age. Was their popularity deemed too controversial or politically influential for the powers that be? Each victim of their own stardom and personal excesses have paid the price of fame and self-inflicted demise. Music was greatly indebted to their artistic contributions, but fate had other plans for them. I will start by date from the earliest to the most recent. Keep in my mind these are rock stars not rappers, blues artists, or those who were younger or older before they were taken.

Brain Jones, founding member of the Rolling Stones began in 1962 with the band. Rhythm guitar, backing vocals, harmonica, and songwriter, Jones succumbed to the downers and other drugs he became a martyr too and many described him as a mere ghost of himself before his death. Found drowned in his pool with an asthma nebulizer within reach, some thought it has been suicide or murder. He passed away in 1969. Neither Mick Jagger nor Keith Richards bothered to show up for his funeral.

They say that tragedies happen in threes. If that’s true the demise of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison of the Doors flooded the news and overwhelmed loving fans with grief. So,  Janis Joplin, known for her passionate blues vocals as well for her wild drug and alcohol fueled lifestyle died of an overdoes too young to leave the world behind, but a victim of her own vices.

Jim Morrison, a talented film student, poet, and explosively charismatic vocalist who may well be the best that’s ever been emerged on the music scene in 1967 and by 1971 passed away under bizarre circumstances. Being a heavy drinker and influenced by the psychedelics he experimented with, Jim was found dead in his bathtub in Paris. Authorities suspected questionable circumstances as Jim’s quick certification of death by a local physician and burial that did not give friends or fellow Door’s member’s time to arrive. According to Ray Manzarek, the Door’s keyboard man, Patti, Jim’s wife, cried such bitter tears he had no doubt Jim had passed and not engineered his own disappearance. The Doors went on to release one more album and one more tour but soon broke up afterword.

Jimi Hendrix, amazed the guitar world with his sound and technique playing blues psychedelic rock. Jimi too was a victim of his own excesses and died in his sleep of asphyxiation after a night of drinking, cocaine, and probably sleeping pills. His death in 1970 was followed by Janis and Jim within weeks.

Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson of Canned Heat, legendary Harmonica player, vocalist, and songwriter died of a drug overdose in 1970 considered to be a suicide. He figured prominently in their two biggest hits “Going up the Country” and “On the Road Again”.

Ron “Pig Pen” Mc Kernon, a founding member of the legendary band “Grateful Dead” known for his vocals and keyboard playing died March 8^th 1973. A perforated ulcer was his cause of death due to years of heavy drinking.

Nick Drake, a folk singer, guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist is considered to be one of the most influential recording artists of the 20^th Century died in 1974. Not well known while he was alive, his three albums would be repackaged and re-released to a new generation of fans that would appreciate his work for years to come. Nick suffered from severe depression and at the time of his death had been prescribed amitriptyline as an anti-depressant. His was considered to have perished by accidental overdose. At age 26, Nick Drake sadly never realized the fame and fortune his music would bring in the years to come. To this day his fans make a pilgrimage to the town where he was born and on that same Sunday each year play his tunes and give their respects to the family.

Kurt Cobain was a born rock star who at the age of three would pick up a broom and play air guitar to Beatle songs his parents played. Kurt had a sad life growing up and was often bullied by other kids. His music was a unique mix of his past experiences and his a remarkable formula much like the work of the Beatles. His stormy relationship with Courtney Love may have led to his untimely death! Considered to be one of the greatest rock hits of all time “Smells like Team Spirit” Nirvana, Kurt’s band rose to fame and stardom with huge record sales, but Kurt suffered from physical ailments and didn’t enjoy the limelight much either. Soon heroin became his coping mechanism and this coupled with a violent and jealous Cortney Love, might have been the death of him. Medical experts claim that Kurt had ingested way too much heroin at the time of his death to have raised a long barreled shotgun to his face and pulled the trigger. Many of his fans are convinced Courtney, his volatile wife, had solicited Kurt’s death and finished him off herself.

Sadly, these artists who gave so much to the world died by their own hand in most cases, victims of their own sadness, along with their dysfunctional coping mechanism (drugs and alcohol) and the incredible demands of popularity and keeping their audiences happy. We will probably never see the likes of such great musicians again as their era was a true epoch of social awareness and musical creativity.