I was a fan of Amy Winehouse. I hoped that she would leave her demons behind before they finally caught-up with her today in her London home. Such a tremendous voice and talent wasted. Her death at 27, just like all those who have become members of the dreadful club, is a warning sign for anyone with talent in a media driven world. Some have been able to escape the clutches of the curse, Elton John finally conquered his demons, but it took him some two decades before shaking the chains of addiction.
Oddly, for no known reason, I kept thinking of Jim Morrison over the past few days. I use to be a big-time Doors fan but I really haven't listened to a song in a very long time. Yet an image of him kept coming to mind. Something was just around the corner, another singer gone before they could reach old age.
The 27 Club - The Curse
The 27 club is the strange age where some of rocks greatest legends have passed. Some of their deaths may have been from excessive drug use, but when one peals back the layers of assumed decadent behavior, a starling pattern of numbers begins to emerge.
During the 1960's, there were some in high places that believed that the pop music of the day was having a negative impact on the unpopular American war in Vietnam. There has been much speculation that someone may have wanted a few of its brightest, and most out spoken stars silenced . . . permanently. True or not, there are many mysterious stories that come to us from those that knew the victims of the 27 Club. Here are just a few.
As of this writing, I have seen from certain sources that Amy Winehouse was introduced to hard drugs by her boyfriend and that her management company seems to have put too much pressure on her to tour when they knew she was not well. There will be more news to come, I'm sure from her tragic passing. Let us hope more bright stars do not fall under the curse.
27 Club Honor Roll
The founder of Blues and Rock-n-Roll, Robert Johnson died at the age of 27 on August 16th 1938, perhaps setting the age of entry in stone.
By his own account, Johnson claimed that he had sold his soul to the Devil so that he could become a better player. His death is just as mysterious; it's alleged that Johnson loved women and whiskey, and one woman may have put some strychnine into Johnson's last bottle of spirits. Fact-checking the Life and Death of Bluesman Robert Johnson
Brian Jones, founder of the Rolling Stones died on July 3rd in 1969. He was 27. He drowned in a swimming pool but there were always strange incidents surrounding his death that have caused some to wonder if Jones had been murdered. 
Guitar extraordinaire Jimi Hendrix died on September 18th 1970. He was 27. Though he asphyxiated on his own vomit after ingesting 9 sleeping pills and wine, Hendrix told friends just days before, that he was in fear for his life. After his death on the hospital registry where he was admitted, one attending doctors name was removed with no known reason.
Songstress Janis Joplin passed on October 4th, 1970 of what is believed to have been a heroin overdose. She had told friends, concerned about her drug use; "Lets face it, I'll never see 30." She died at age 27. 
Drinking one night with friends, Jim Morrison, song writer and lead singer of the Doors, referred to the deaths of both Joplin and Hendrix saying "You're drinking with number three." When Morrison died on July 3rd, 1971 in France, no autopsy was preformed, yet his death was listed as 'heart failure'. He was 27. 
Kurt Cobain, founder and lead singer of Nirvana, who's self inflected death by shotgun on April 5th, 1994, at the age of 27, is usually assumed to be a suicide, but there are however those that believe that he too was murdered. Part of the theory holds to the fact that no prints could be gleaned from the gun.
And there are many more mysterious deaths of musicians at the age of 27. Wikipedia: 27 Club
One book I have read cover to cover and highly recommend is Take a Walk on the Dark Side, Rock and Roll Myths, Legends & Curses by Gary Patterson. It's spooky reading and a rocking ride.
Story Source - Wikipedia: 27 Club
Something else that makes me scratch my head . . .
Sex Symbols of Crime and their Fans - Casey Anthony & Richard Ramirez
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