Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison – all members of the 27 Club. It’s Halloween, so it seems appropriate to blog about the oddity of so many well-known musicians passing away at the age of twenty seven. It’s particularly timely because London’s Chloe Black used her emotive vocal skills in a recently released song about the 27 Club.
What’s the formula for this song? Start with a real-life situation, “Joplin, heroin, cocaine, Cobain, Raise my Hendrix to Jimi.” Paraphrase Neil Young’s “It’s better to burn out, then to fade away.” Improve upon Lana Del Rey’s approach to vocalization. Step back and let the fans add up.
Lyrics to “27 Club”
Shotgun wound to the head so I
Oho, oh oh
Think about it every day and night
Oho, oh oh
Joplin, heroin, cocaine, Cobain,
Raise my Hendrix to Jimi
Top shelf, despair, party hard, don't care
No one gets old in the city
Going hard, going hard, wild hearts
Crashing cars, crashing cars and stars
Yeah we're burning and we'll never fade away
Falling hard, au revoir, wild hearts
Lifetime membership “27 Club”
Can I get it?
Lifetime membership “27 Club”
Can I get it?
Leave a good looking corpse behind
Oho, oh oh
Pay the price and get your name in lights
Oho, oh oh
I'll bury you with your guitar
Oho, oh oh
Leave flowers on the boulevard
Oho, oh oh
Going hard, going hard, wild hearts
Crashing cars, crashing cars and stars
Yeah we're burning and we'll never fade away
Falling hard, au revoir, wild hearts
Lifetime membership “27 Club”
Can I get it?
Lifetime membership “27 Club”
Can I get it?
Joplin, heroin, cocaine, Cobain,
Raise my Hendrix to Jimi
Top shelf, despair, party hard, don't care
No one gets old in the city
No one to pay, no one to fade
Come and say my name, yeah
Ain't no one to pay, ain't no one to fade
Come and say my name, yeah
No one to play, no one to play
Come and say my name, yeah
Lifetime membership “27 Club”
Can I get it?
Lifetime membership “27 Club”
Can I get it?
(repeat)
Members of the 27 Club – Information from Wikipedia, with thanks.
Name
|
Date of death
|
Official cause of death
|
Fame
| |
|
|
|
March 26, 1908
|
Neurosyphilitic sclerosis
|
Ragtime musician
| |
|
|
August 16, 1938
|
|
Blues singer and musician who recorded a very influential set of 29 songs.
| |
|
|
August 5, 1945
|
|
Swing jazz pianist
| |
|
|
February 6, 1960
|
Traffic collision (car)
|
R&B singer, pianist and songwriter
| |
|
|
May 20, 1964
|
Drug overdose
|
| |
|
|
October 24, 1964
|
Heart attack
|
R&B and gospel singer
| |
Malcolm Hale
|
October 31, 1968
|
Poisoning (carbon monoxide)
|
| |
|
|
March 26, 1969
|
Drug overdose (sleeping pills)
|
Rock and roll singer
| |
|
|
July 3, 1969
|
Drowning (coroner's report states "death by misadventure")
|
| |
|
|
September 3, 1970
|
|
| |
|
|
September 18, 1970
|
|
Pioneering electric guitarist, singer and songwriter for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys
| |
|
|
October 4, 1970
|
|
| |
Arlester "Dyke" Christian
|
March 13, 1971
|
Murdered
|
| |
|
|
July 3, 1971
|
|
| |
|
|
March 14, 1972
|
Complications from diabetes
|
Soul singer
| |
|
|
May 3, 1972
|
Electrocution
|
Guitarist for Stone the Crows and brother of Alex Harvey
| |
|
|
March 8, 1973
|
Gastrointestinal hemorrhage
|
| |
Roger Lee Durham
|
July 27, 1973
|
Fell off a horse and died from the injuries
|
| |
Wallace Yohn
|
August 12, 1974
|
Plane crash
|
| |
|
|
February 10, 1975
|
Pulmonary edema
|
| |
|
|
April 24, 1975
|
Suicide by hanging
|
| |
|
|
December 8, 1975
|
Drug overdose (heroin)
|
Former bassist of Uriah Heep and the Keef Hartley Band
| |
|
|
August 2, 1976
|
Traffic collision (car)
|
Singer
| |
|
|
May 3, 1977
|
Poisoning (carbon monoxide)
|
| |
|
|
December 27, 1978
|
Traffic collision (car)
|
| |
|
|
March 23, 1980
|
Traffic collision (car)
|
| |
|
|
December 22, 1985
|
Traffic collision (van)
|
| |
|
|
February 17, 1988
|
Fall from a height, probable suicide
|
Poet, rock musician and songwriter
| |
|
|
August 12, 1988
|
|
Painter and graffiti artist; formed the band Gray
| |
|
|
June 14, 1989
|
Traffic collision (motorcycle)
|
| |
|
|
July 7, 1993
|
Murdered
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
June 16, 1994
|
Drug overdose (heroin)
|
Bass guitarist for Hole and Janitor Joe
| |
|
|
February 1, 1995
|
|
| |
|
|
February 3, 1998
|
Murdered
|
| |
|
|
March 28, 1999
|
Murdered
|
| |
|
|
June 21, 1999
|
|
| |
|
|
June 24, 2000
|
Traffic collision (car)
|
| |
Sean Patrick McCabe
|
August 28, 2000
|
Asphyxiation
|
| |
Maria Serrano Serrano
|
November 24, 2001
|
|
| |
|
|
May 25, 2003
|
Drug overdose (heroin)
|
The Mars Volta and De Facto sound manipulator
| |
Bryan Ottoson
|
April 19, 2005
|
Drug overdose (prescription medication)
|
| |
|
|
November 26, 2006
|
Murdered
|
| |
|
|
July 23, 2011
|
Poisoning (alcohol)
|
Singer-songwriter
| |
Richard Turner
|
August 11, 2011
|
Cardiac arrest
|
Trumpet player, collaborator with Friendly Fires[37]
| |
Nicole Bogner
|
January 6, 2012
|
Undisclosed illness
|
| |
Soroush "Looloosh" Farazmand
|
November 11, 2013
|
Murdered
|
| |
Monkey Black
|
April 30, 2014
|
Murdered
|
Dominican rapper and singer
| |
