The 27 Club
“The 27 Club” or sometimes referred to as, “The Forever 27 Club”, is the infamous name given to the group of musicians, most of the rock genre, who met their own tragic demise at the young age of twenty-seven. Most of the deaths of the members is attributed to drugs or alcohol, some are from murder, suicide or freak accident (How They Died). Not only are most of the members related by their use of drugs or alcohol, most come for the same background, broken homes. The “27 Club” term originates to the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and several others. The press makes no big deal of the deaths occurring at the same age but twenty-five years later, the grunge band, Nirvana’s lead singer and guitarist, Kurt Cobain commits suicide and the press dubs him a member of the “27 Club”. Many mysteries and conspiracy theories shroud the 27s but one thing can be certain, no matter how wealthy or famous you become, all the money and fame in the world does not make you invincible.
James “Jimi” Marshall Hendrix is born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle Washington to James “Al” and Lucille Hendrix. Jimmy’s mother leaves the family after she and Al have two more children and Jimmy only sees her sporadically until her death (Jimi Hendrix Biography). From an early age, Jimmy shows a great interest and passion for music for instance, Jimmy strums a broom like a guitar until Al finds him an old one-string ukulele while cleaning a garage. On February 2nd, 1958, Jimmy’s mother, Lucille, dies of a ruptured spleen as a result of cirrhosis of the liver. Al refuses to allow Jimi and his brothers to attend their mother’s funeral and instead Al gives them shots of whiskey and tells them that is the way a man deals with loss. And by the summer of 1958, Al buys Jimmy an acoustic guitar for five dollars. Jimmy then joins his first band, The Velvetones (Jimi Hendrix Biography). He plays with The Velvetones for three months and then moves on because Hendrix feels that he needs...