The 27 Club
For those unaware of the “27 Club”, this club includes a list of popular musicians who have died at age 27. This doesn’t only apply to musicians as it expands to actors and celebrities who have also died around this age. This club has been a discussion in the entertainment industry, focusing more on the rock & roll genre as this term became widely known after Kurt Cobain died in 1994. Soon after this, rock fans connected his death to other artists who died in the 1970s, like Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, and Jimi Hendrix, noting how they all died within just two years of each other. Many years later, when Amy Winehouse passed away at age 27 in 2011, it attracted even more attention to the significance of the age. While this club has been largely connected to musicians, it has expanded since, as many young actors and artists have lost their lives due to everything from addiction to suicide to freak accidents.
The 27 Club is one of those cases that feels more like a conspiracy theory than a grievance ceremony. Rather than focusing on the age of when these famous people died, it’s important to note how they died and who was there to support them in the end (if there were any). As someone who hasn’t reached this age yet, I have little to no idea about how I’ll be once I hit that milestone. To think that the age of 27 is being linked to death is very unsettling, and this is why I believe the “27 Club” should be renamed because it’s very misleading. Just because popular artists and celebrities, unfortunately, died around this age does not mean that this will apply to everyone around the world.
Another note about the 27 Club is that most famous individuals that were added to it have all died in the 1970s, which was a time when drugs were heavily used and not taken seriously. When you think about the 1970s, all that gets brought up about it was the significant use of drugs, peace, and vibes. Ever since Amy Winehouse was added to the club in 2011, it’s been again, recognized merely as a conspiracy/coincidence so whether this pattern continues or not it’s still important to remember the cause of death for this club (which was heavy drugs). Luckily, this club hasn’t been updated since Amy Winehouse, I believe, but I wanted to bring attention to this because of the way that it’s promoted. Hopefully, the “27 Club” can be renamed/represented as something more meaningful.
An example of this can be found on dclibaracy, stating how: “Nevertheless, for better or worse, the 27 Club is a noted and fascinating phenomenon. Using this as a basis for discussion, we have an opportunity to examine how we as a society regard talent, art, fame, death, and legacy. By exploring individual biographies, we give breath and detail to the lives of these talented and troubled human beings. This goes beyond a morbid fascination with notorious rock star deaths and the salacious details and spooky happenstance of a common age at death. We can come to a better understanding of what influenced these artists who became influential and iconic themselves,” focusing more on who the cl celebrity was and cause of death than what age they died.
