The 27 Club
The 27 Club, or Forever 27 Club, (usually considered a curse or conspiracy) are a group of singers/musicians who died at the age of 27. This is usually as a result of drug and alcohol abuse, though, other tragic or violent means have been the cause in some cases.
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Widely regarded as the greatest and most influential guitarist in rock history, Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, to African-American parents Lucille (Jeter) and James Allen Hendrix. His mother named him John Allen Hendrix and raised him alone while his father, Al Hendrix, was off fighting in World War II. When his mother became sick from alcoholism, Hendrix was sent to live with relatives in Berkeley, California. When his father returned from Europe in 1945 he took back Hendrix, divorced his wife, and renamed him James Marshall Hendrix.
When Jimi was 13 his father taught him to play an acoustic guitar. In 1959 Jimi dropped out of high school and enlisted in the U.S. Army, but soon became disenchanted with military service. After he broke his ankle during a training parachute jump, he was honorably discharged. He then went to work as a sideman on the rhythm-and-blues circuit, honing his craft but making little or no money. Jimi got restless being a sideman and moved to New York City hoping to get a break in the music business. Through his friend Curtis Knight, Jimi discovered the music scene in Greenwich Village, which left indelible impressions on him. It was here that he began taking drugs, among them marijuana, pep pills and cocaine.
In 1966, while Jimi was performing with his own band called James & the Blue Flames at Cafe Wha?, John Hammond Jr. approached Jimi about the Flames playing backup for him at Cafe Au Go Go. Jimi agreed and during the show's finale, Hammond let Jimi cut loose on Bo Diddley's "I'm the Man." Linda Keith, girlfriend of The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, was one of Jimi's biggest fans and it was she who told friend Chas Chandler, a band manager, about Jimi. When Chandler heard Jimi play, he asked him to come to London to form his own band, and while there Chandler made the simple change in Jimi's name by formally dropping James and replacing it with Jimi. Having settled in England with a new band called the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which consisted of Jimi as guitarist and lead singer, bass player Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, Jimi took the country by storm with the release of his first single "Hey, Joe."
In the summer of 1967 Jimi performed back in the USA at the Monterey Pop Festival, a mix-up backstage forced Jimi to follow The Who onstage, where after a superb performance Jimi tore up the house by trashing his guitar in a wild frenzy. Afterwards, Jimi's career skyrocketed with the release of the Experience's first two albums, "Are You Experienced?" and "Axis: Bold as Love," which catapulted him to the top of the charts. However, tensions, possibly connected with Jimi's drug use and the constant presence of hangers-on in the studio and elsewhere, began to fracture some of his relationships, including Chas Chandler, who quit as manager in February 1968.
In September 1968 the Experience released their most successful album, "Electric Ladyland." However, in early 1969 bassist Redding left the Experience and was replaced by Billy Cox, an old army buddy who Jimi had jammed with. Jimi began experimenting with different musicians. For the Woodstock music festival Jimi put together an outfit called the Gypsies, Sun and Rainbows, with Mitchell and Cox as well as a second guitarist and two percussionists. Their one and only performance in August 1969 at Woodstock took place near Bethel, New York, where Hendrix and his band were to be the closing headline act. Because of the delay getting there and the logistical problems, Jimi performed on the morning of the fourth and final day. Only 25,000 people of the original 400,000 stayed to watch Jimi and his band as the closing music number, where Jimi's searing rendering of "The Star-Spangled Banner" became the anthem for counterculture.
After Woodstock, Jimi formed a new band with Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums with the May 1970 release of the album "The Band of Gypsys." Jimi's last album, "Cry of Love", featured Cox on bass and former Experience drummer Mitchell on drums. However, Jimi's drug problem finally caught up with him. On the night of September 17, 1970, while living in London, Jimi took some sleeping pills, which were prescribed for his live-in girlfriend Monika Danneman. Sometime after midnight, Jimi threw up from an apparent allergic reaction to the pills and then passed out. Danneman, thinking him to be all right, went out to get cigarettes for them. When she returned, she found him lying where he collapsed, having inhaled his own vomit, and and she couldn't wake him. Danneman called an ambulance, which took him to a nearby hospital, but Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead a short while later without regaining consciousness. He was 27 years old.
Jimi Hendrix's life was short, but his impact on the rock guitar is still being heard and set the course for a new era of rock music.November 27 1942-September 18 1970 (Asphyxiation and barbiturate overdose).
Though the case was closed, the one witness (his girlfriend, Monika Danneman) was unreliable, in terms of story and time frame, not to mention, it was her pills Jimi overdosed on.- Music Artist
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- Actress
Janis Lyn Joplin was born at St. Mary's Hospital in the oil-refining town of Port Arthur, Texas, near the border with Louisiana. Her father was a cannery worker and her mother was a registrar for a business college. As an overweight teenager, she was a folk-music devotee (especially Odetta, Leadbelly and Bessie Smith). After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School, she attended Lamar State College and the University of Texas, where she played auto-harp in Austin bars.She was nominated for the Ugliest Man on Campus in 1963, and she spent two years traveling, performing and becoming drug-addicted. Back home in 1966, her friend Chet Helms suggested she become lead singer for Big Brother and the Holding Company, an established Haight-Ashbury band consisting of guitarists James Gurley and Sam Andrew, bassist Peter Albin and drummer Dave Getz). She got wide recognition through the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, highlights of which were released in Monterey Pop (1968), and with the band's landmark second album, "Cheap Thrills". She formed her "Kosmic Blues Band" the following year and achieved still further recognition as a solo performer at Woodstock in 1969, highlights released in Woodstock (1970). In the spring of 1970, she sang with the "Full Tilt Boogie Band" and, on October 4 of that year, she was found dead in Hollywood's Landmark Motor Hotel (now known as Highland Gardens Hotel) from a heroin-alcohol overdose the previous day. Her ashes were scattered off the coast of California. Her biggest selling album was the posthumously released "Pearl", which contained her quintessential song: "Me & Bobby McGee".January 19 1943-October 4 1970 (heroin overdose).
Died in her hotel room, just 16 days after Jimi Hendrix.- Music Artist
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James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American poet, singer, and songwriter from Florida. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band "The Doors" (1965-1973), and has been cited as "one of the most influential frontmen in rock history". Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all of which sold well. Morrison struggled with alcohol dependency for most of his adult life, and displayed erratic behavior both on and off the stage. He was described as "A Jekyll and Hyde" by record producer Paul Rothchild, due to often displaying contradictory character traits in his interactions with others. Morrison died unexpectedly in Paris, France at the age of 27. No autopsy was ever performed, and the cause of Morrison's death remains disputed. His mysterious death has inspired a large number of theories, and has fascinated people for decades.
In 1943, Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, a city located 72 miles (116 kilometers) southeast of Orlando. Melbourne emerged as a new settlement in the 1870s. It was named after Melbourne, Australia, because the new town's first postmaster had spend most of his life in the Australian city. Morrison's parents were George Stephen Morrison (1919-2008) and his wife Clara Virginia Clarke (1919-2005). Morrison's father was a career officer of the United States Navy, and would eventually reach the rank of rear admiral. George is primarily remembered for his service in the Vietnam War. The Morrisons were part of a Scottish-American family that had been living in the United States since the 18th century. Genealogical research has indicated that they were descendants of Clan Morrison, a Scottish clan which is primarily associated with the Isle of Lewis and Harris.
Morrison experienced the typical nomadic life of a military brat, as his family never settled permanently in any location. At various points in his childhood, Morrison lived in San Diego, in northern Virginia, in Kingsville, Texas, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1957, Morrison started his high school years in Alameda, California. In 1959, he was transferred to the George Washington High School, located in Alexandria, Virginia. He graduated from there in June 1961. During his last years of high school, Morrison maintained a grade average of 88. He reportedly tested in the top 0.1% with an IQ of 149.
Following his high school graduation, Morrison went to live with his paternal grandparents in Clearwater, Florida. He initially attended the St. Petersburg Junior College, which had been operating as a private, non-profit institution since the late 1920s. In 1962, Morrison started attending the Florida State University (FSU), located in Tallahassee. In September 1963, he was first arrested for the police. He had been found drunk at a home football game, and was charged with disturbing the peace.
In 1964, Morrison was transferred to the film program at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He enrolled at a class which studied the works of Antonin Artaud (1896-1948), and reportedly developed a fascination with surrealist theatre. In 1965, Morrison completed his undergraduate degree at UCLA's film school. He refused to attend the graduation ceremony, and the University mailed his diploma to his mother.
Following his university graduation, Morrison followed a bohemian lifestyle in Venice Beach, California. He lived on the rooftop of a building, and wrote song lyrics without having a chance to perform them. In the summer of 1965, Morrison and his recent acquaintance Ray Manzarek decided to form a rock band. They soon recruited the guitarist Robby Krieger and the drummer John Densmore. Morrison decided to name the band "The Doors", after the autobiographical book "The Doors of Perception" (1954) by Aldous Huxley. The name of the book was a reference to using "psychedelic drugs as facilitators of mystical insight".
Morrison soon emerged as the primary lyricist of the band, though Krieger wrote or co-wrote several of their hit songs. Morrison typically avoided using music instruments in live performances, though he learned to use both the maracas and the tambourine. In June 1966, the band were the opening act at the nightclub "Whisky a Go Go" in West Hollywood. During their performances there, Morrison interacted with the Irish singer Van Morrison (1945-), and studied aspects of Van's stage persona and stagecraft. He eventually incorporated several of these aspects into his own stage persona.
In November 1966, Morrison and the other members of the band produced the promotional film "Break On Through (To the Other Side)", named after the title of their first single. They would continue to create short music films throughout the initial years of the band. In 1967, the band signed a contract with the record company Elektra Records. The company would promote their songs to nationwide. The band had its breakthrough hit in the summer of 1967, with the single "Light My Fire". It spent three weeks at the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The band was soon booked to perform two of their songs in the variety television series "The Ed Sullivan Show". The show's censors insisted on changes to "Light My Fire", due to the show's explicit references to drug use. The band feigned compliance, but instead used the explicit version of the song. The resulting controversy caused the cancellation of their six further bookings for television appearances. However, their popularity among rock fans increased.
In September 1967, the band released their second album "Strange Days". It reached the 3rd place number on the US Billboard 200, and earned favorable reviews by the music press. The bands distinctive blend of blues and dark psychedelic rock had turned them into one of the most popular rock bands in the United States. However, Morrison would soon gain notoriety for different reasons. He was arrested on stage in New Haven, Connecticut, after narrating to the audience his recent encounter with a police officer who had maced him. The local police charged him with indecency and public obscenity, though the charges were eventually dropped. Morrison was the first rock performer to be arrested onstage during a live performance.
In September 1968, the Doors played in Europe for the first time. They gave four performances at the Roundhouse, London. Their performances were filmed by Granada Television for the television documentary "The Doors Are Open", which introduced the band to a wider British audience. As the band was gaining international popularity, the members increasingly took note of Morrison's self-destructive behavior. They were aware that he was a heavy drinker, but they realized that he started regularly appearing inebriated in their recording sessions.
By early 1969, Morrison had gained weight. He decided to stop wearing leather pants and concho belts, and to dress casually instead. He also ditched his typically clean-shaven look, and grew a beard for the first time. On March 1, 1969, Morrison increased his own reputation for rebellious behavior. While performing at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, he encouraged the audience to start a riot and threatened to expose his penis on stage. Within days, six warrants for his arrest were issued by the Dade County Police department. One on them on charges of indecent exposure.
Due to Morrison's ongoing legal problems, many of the Doors' scheduled concerts had to be canceled. On September 20, 1970, Morrison was convicted of indecent exposure and profanity in a jury trial in Miami. In October 30, he was officially sentenced to imprisonment for 6 months and a fine of 500 dollars. Morrison remained free on a bond of 50,000 dollars. He commented in a press interview that the American judicial system favors the wealthy, and that (in his words) "if you have money you generally don't go to jail".
Morrison's last album with "The Doors" was "L.A. Woman". It was recorded between December 1970 and January 1971, and eventually released in April 1971. The album was heavily influenced by the blues genre, even more so than their previous works. It was co-produced by the veteran sound engineer Bruce Botnick. The album peaked at the 9th place on the Billboard 200, and the 28th place on the UK Albums Charts. Its most popular song was "Riders on the Storm", which peaked at the 14th place on the U.S Billboard Hot 100.
After finishing the recording of the album, Morrison announced to his band-mates that he planned to move to Paris, France. They had no objection to his decision. In March 1971, Morrison joined his longtime girlfriend Pamela Courson (1946-1974) at her rented apartment in Rue Beautreillis. This Paris street was noted as the former residence of the poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867). While staying in Paris, Morrison shaved his beard and lost some weight.
On July 3, 1971, Courson found Morison dead in the bathtub of their apartment at approximately 6:00 a.m. No autopsy was performed, as it was not required by French law. The official cause of death was heart failure, though this was just an educated guess. There were initial rumors of an accidental heroin overdose, but no evidence could confirm them. Morrison was buried at "Père Lachaise Cemetery", the largest cemetery in Paris and the most visited necropolis in the world. The cemetery was founded by the emperor Napoleon in 1804, and houses the remains of several famous writers and artists. Morrison has continued to inspire musicians for decades, and has repeatedly been cited as a main inspiration for the gothic rock genre.December 8 1943-July 3 1971 (heart failure, attributed to drug and alcohol abuse).
He was found dead in his bathtub in his (and his girlfriend; Pamela Courson) apartment in Paris.
In 1970, shortly after the deaths of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, he reportedly told friends at a bar "You're drinking with number three."- Music Department
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Jones was born on 28 February, 1942, to Lewis and Louise Jones. He had two sisters, Pamela and Barbara. Pamela died when Brian was still a child. He fathered his first of several children in high school and was subsequently made to leave. In the early 1960s, Brian formed the legendary group, The Rolling Stones. He even gave the group their name and booked their first gigs, working also as their manager for a short time. In 1965, Brian met and fell for stunning model Anita Pallenberg. They began a torrid affair. He composed the music to her film debut, A Degree of Murder (1967) ("Degree of Murder"). He also began drinking and experimenting with drugs. In 1967, Anita left Brian for his bandmate, Keith Richards. Brian fell deeper into drugs and depression. Brian was slowly withdrawing from his social life and his band into isolation. In November 1968, Brian purchased "Cotchford Farm", the house was formerly occupied by A.A. Milne, author of the "Winnie-the-Pooh" tales. The following month, he made his last public appearance with the Stones for their "Rock and Roll Circus" special. In June of 1969, Brian and the Stones parted ways. By then, Brian had started to clean up and was planning on forming another group. But on the 3rd of July, Brian was dragged unconscious from his swimming pool and later pronounced dead. He was 27. Mystery still surrounds his untimely death. Some believe it was drugs, some believe an asthma attack, and some even believe he was murdered. In 1999, Brian's ex-girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, who was with him on the night he died, wrote a book stating that Brian was murdered by a friend who had been doing some work to his property. In 1996, some of Brian's fans and friends collaborated and founded the "Brian Jones Fan Club".February 28 1942-July 3 1969 (Drowning, attributed to drugs and alcohol)
Brian Jones was the founding member of The Rolling Stones. He died less than a month after the band let him go, and his death is perhaps, one of the more mysterious ones, spawning many conspiracy theories, the main one being that he was murdered by Frank Thorogood, who was doing some construction work on the property. He was the last person to see Jones alive.
In 1994, Frank Thorogood (the builder) was on his deathbed, and supposedly confessed to murdering Brian saying, "It was me that did Brian. It just happened. I just snapped. That's all there is to it." He died before any official confession could be recorded.
Jimi Hendrix dedicated a song to him on US television, and Jim Morrison published a poem "Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones Deceased". Like Jones though, Hendrix and Morrison both died within the following two years due to drugs and alcohol abuse.- Music Artist
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Kurt Cobain was born on February 20 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. Kurt and his family lived in Hoquiam for the first few months of his life then later moved back to Aberdeen, where he had a happy childhood until his parents divorced. The divorce left Kurt's outlook on the world forever scarred. He became withdrawn and anti-social. He was constantly placed with one relative to the next, living with friends, and at times even homeless. Kurt was not the most popular person in high school as he was in public school. In 1985 Kurt left Aberdeen for Olympia where he formed the band Nirvana in 1986. In 1989 Nirvana recorded their debut album Bleach under the independent label Sub-Pop records. Nirvana became very popular in Britain and by 1991 they signed a contract with Geffen. Their next album Nevermind became a 90s masterpiece and made Kurt's Nirvana one of the most successful bands in the world. Kurt became trampled upon with success and found the new lifestyle hard to bear. In February 1992 Kurt married Courtney Love, the woman who was already pregnant with his child, Frances Bean Cobain. Nirvana released their next album Incesticide later that year. The album appealed to many fans due to the liner notes, which expressed Kurt's open-mindedness. In September 1993 Nirvana released their next album, 'In Utero', which topped the charts. On March 4, 1994, Kurt was taken to hospital in a coma. It was officially stated as an accident but many believe it to have been an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Family and friends convinced Kurt to seek rehab. Kurt was said to have fled rehab after only a few days from a missing person's report filed by Courtney Love. On April 8th Kurt's body was found in his Seattle home. In his arms was a shotgun, which had been fired into his head. Near him laid a suicide note written in red ink. It was addressed to his wife Courtney Love and his daughter Frances Bean Cobain. Two days after Kurt's body was discovered people gathered in Seattle, they began setting fires, chanting profanities, and fighting with police officers. They also listened to a tape of Courtney reading sections of the suicide note left by Kurt. The last few words were "I love you, I love you".February 20 1967-April 5 1994 (suicide by gunshot)
His death may have been ruled a suicide (he did fight a known battle with drugs and depression), - but the fact that his suicide note had two different types of writing on it, the lack of gun powder on his fingers, he had entirely too much heroin in his system at the time of his death to have been able to operate a shotgun, as well as one of Cobain's credit cards was being used a few days after his death, - have given rise to the theories that he was either murdered or that he he faked his own death.
"Now he's gone and joined that stupid club. I told him not to join that stupid club" - Kurt's mother
"Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your letters of concern over the past years. I don't have the passion anymore and so remember, it's better to burn out than fade away" (addressed to Nirvana fans in his suicide note).- Music Artist
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Amy Jade Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983 in Enfield, London, England and raised in Southgate, London, England to Janis Holly Collins (née Seaton), a pharmacist & Mitchell "Mitch" Winehouse, a window panel installer and taxi driver. Her family shared her love of theater and music. Amy was brought up on jazz music; She received her first guitar at age 13 and taught herself how to play. Young Amy Winehouse was a rebellious girl. At age 14, she was expelled from Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London. At that time she pierced her nose and tattooed her body. She briefly attended the BRIT School in Croydon, and began her professional career at 16, performing occasional club gigs and recording low cost demos. At 19 years old, she recorded her debut album: Frank (2003), a jazz-tinged album that became a hit and earned her several award nominations. During the next several years, she survived a period of personal upheaval, a painful relationship, and struggles with substance abuse. Her final album, Back on Black (2006) was an international hit, and 'Rehab' made No. 9 on the US pop charts.
Her big break came in 2008. Amy Winehouse became the first British female to win 5 Grammy Awards on the same night, February 10th, 2008, including Best New Artist and Record of the Year for 'Rehab'. Her Grammy performance was broadcast from London via satellite, because she was unable to appear in person in Los Angeles due to temporary problems with her traveling visa. Following her success at the Grammy Awards, Winehouse gave a string of highly successful performances during the year 2008. In June, she was suddenly hospitalized with a serious lung condition. However, she left hospital for one evening to perform for Nelson Mandela on his 90th birthday celebration in London's Hyde Park. She sang her hits: Rehab & Valerie, drawing cheers and applause form the crowds and a smile from Mandela. Winehouse also performed for Roman Abramovich's party in Moscow; there she earned $2 million for her one-hour gig.
Amy Winehouse developed a distinctive style of her own. Her signature beehive hairstyle has become the model for fashion designers, while her vulnerability, her fragile personality and self-destructive behavior was regular tabloid news, and subject of criticism and controversy. In April 2008 she was named the second greatest "ultimate heroine" by the British population at large, and a month later was voted the second most hated personality in the UK. George Michael called her the "best female vocalist he has heard in his entire career," while Keith Richards warned that she "won't be around long" if her behavior doesn't change.
Musically, Amy Winehouse created a cross-cultural and cross-genre style. She experimented with an eclectic mix of jazz, soul, pop, reggae, world beat and R&B. She had a special ability to channel hurt and despair into her performances. Her voice, phrasing and delivery sometimes sounded like a mix between Billy Holliday, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan, and coupled with similarities in personal problems, she at times resembled another incarnation of legendary "Lady Blues".
Amy died at 27 years old on July 23, 2011 in her London home following a long-running battle with alcohol addiction. She was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and her ashes were laid to rest in Edgwarebury Jewish Cemetery in London, United Kingdom. Her death caused considerable mourning worldwide.September 14 1983- July 23 2001 (alcohol poisoning)
Seventeen years after Cobain’s death, Amy Winehouse died, and controversy and speculation over the club was once again ignited. Winehouse was fighting a battle with drugs, alcohol, violent mood swings, weight loss, and showed the early stages of emphysema. Three years before her death, she had expressed her fear of dying at that age.
Winehouse began binge drinking in 2008 after kicking a drug habit, and it was one of her binges that led to her death by intoxication in the morning hours of 23 July 2011.- Music Department
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Robert Johnson was born on 8 May 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, USA. He was a writer, known for The Skeleton Key (2005), Chocolat (2000) and Holes (2003). He was married to Calleta "Callie" Craft and Virginia Travis. He died on 13 August 1938 in Greenwood, Mississippi, USA.May 8 1911-August 13 1938 (homicide by strychnine poisoning)
Robert Johnson was a Blues guitarist and singer, whose style has influenced a lot of rock and blues music today. He has been cited as “the most important blues singer that ever lived”.
Johnson has only three known documented photos and the fact that his fleeting life was so badly documented; it has become the source of an urban legend, that he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in exchange for success. ‘Hell Hound on my Trail, ‘Me and the Devil Blues’ and ‘Crossroad Blues’, Were among the names of Johnsons more famous songs, and it was after a performance that he collapsed in seizures. A few days later he died in a feverish and convulsive state.
Though his official cause of death was ruled as strychnine poisoning, no one actually knows for certain how he died.- Actor
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Ron McKernan was born on 8 September 1945 in San Bruno, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Dreamers (2003), The Music Never Stopped (2011) and On Any Saturday (2006). He died on 8 March 1973 in Corte Madera, California, USA.September 8 1945-March 6 1973 (massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage)
Ronald 'Pigpen' McKernan was a founding member of the Grateful Dead, and the band's keyboardist. McKernan had a short romantic relationship and longer friendship with Janis Joplin.
His death is attributed to the fact that he was a heavy drinker.- Soundtrack
Mia Zapata grew up listening to Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Reed, Ray Charles and Hank Williams. She was also a gifted poet and artist. In the fall of 1986, she formed a rock band called The Gits with three classmates at Antioch College in Ohio. In 1989, they relocated to Seattle, where grunge rock and street punk was burgeoning. The Gits quickly gained popularity in the Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, and major record labels took notice. But just as The Gits were poised to explode onto the national music scene, tragedy struck. On July 7, 1993, Mia was raped and murdered while walking home. Her murder remained unsolved for a decade, prompting numerous conspiracy theories, including that she was killed by a rival band, stalked by a rabid fan, or that a Satanic cult was involved. Finally, using old DNA evidence, a Cuban drifter was convicted in 2004 of Mia's murder and is serving a 37-year sentence.
The Seattle music community had been shattered by death many times in the early 1990s. In 1990, Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose. In 1991, local poet Jesse Bernstein shot himself. Stefanie Sargent of 7 Year Bitch overdosed in 1992. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana committed suicide in 1994. All of these deaths altered the local music scene, but because Mia's death was a homicide, her memory in particular haunted the community. Many bands broke up after her murder, and her posters still hang in clubs and cafés.
In response to her murder, friends created a women's self-defense group called Home Alive, which produces fundraising concerts and CDs with the participation of Seattle's music elite, including Pearl Jam, Heart, and the Presidents of the United States. Joan Jett recorded an album with the surviving members of The Gits.August 25 1965-July 7 1993 (homicide)
Mia formed a rock band called The Gits with three classmates at Antioch College in Ohio. She was raped and murdered in Seattle while walking home. Her murder remained unsolved for a decade, prompting numerous conspiracy theories, including that she was killed by a rival band, stalked by a rabid fan, or that a Satanic cult was involved.- Soundtrack
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Alan Christie Wilson was born to John Wilson and Shirley Brigham in the Boston suburb of Arlington, MA on July 4 1943. Wilson was highly sensitive, introverted, and intelligent, which set him apart from his peers. He became engrossed in music as a child after his step mother bought him a jazz record. Some of Wilson's first efforts at performing music publicly came during his teen years when he learned trombone, teaching himself the instrumental parts from the aforementioned jazz record. Later he formed a jazz ensemble with other musically oriented friends from school called Crescent City Hot Five. At this time, Wilson was into traditional New Orleans music, and later, Classical European and Indian music. Wilson developed a fascination with blues music after a friend played a Muddy Waters record for him, The Best of Muddy Waters. Inspired by Little Walker, he took up harmonica, and soon after, the acoustic guitar after hearing a John Lee Hooker record. After graduating from Arlington High School in 1961, he majored in music at Boston University. His academics earned him a National Merit Scholarship and the F.E. Thompson Scholarship Fund from the Town of Arlington. Wilson developed into a dedicated student of early blues, writing a number of articles for the Broadside of Boston newspaper and the folk-revival magazine Little Sandy Review, including a piece on bluesman Robert Pete Williams.
Wilson met Harvard student and fellow blues enthusiast David Evans in a record store, and the two began playing as a team around the Cambridge coffeehouse folk-blues circuit. With Evans on vocals and guitar, Wilson on harmonica and occasionally second guitar. The two played a repertoire of mostly classic-era blues covers. The early 1960's saw a "rediscovery" of pre-war blues artists by young, white blues enthusiasts, including Mississippi John Hurt, Booker White, Skip James and Son House. After Son House's "rediscovery" in 1964, it was evident that House had forgotten his songs due to his long absence from music. Wilson showed him how to play again the songs House had recorded in 1930 and 1942. Wilson played House's old recordings for him and demonstrated them on guitar to revive House's memory. House recorded Father of Folk Blues for Columbia Records in 1965. Two of the selections on the set featured Wilson on harmonica and guitar. In a letter to Jazz Journal published in the September 1965 issue, Son House's manager Dick Waterman remarked the following about the project and Wilson: "It is a solo album, except for backing on two cuts by a 21-year-old White boy from Cambridge by the name of Al Wilson. Al plays second guitar on Empire State Express and harp on Levee Camp Moan."
Due to Wilson's extreme near sidedness, and scholarly nature, his friend, John Fahey, "Father of the American Fingerstyle Guitar" gave him the nickname "The Blind Owl." After moving to California, Wilson met fellow blues enthusiast Bob Hite at a record store and together founded Canned Heat in 1965. Named after Tommy Johnson's 1928 song "Canned Heat Blues," about an alcoholic who turned to drinking the cooking fuel Sterno. Originally beginning as a jug band, Canned Heat initially comprised of Hite on vocals and Wilson on bottleneck guitar. The band started recording for Liberty Records in 1967, releasing their first album Canned Heat featuring reworkings of older blues songs. Their first big live performance was at the Monterey Pop Festival on June 17, 1967 where they performed renditions of "Rollin and Tumblin," "Bullfrog Blues," and "Dust My Broom."
Heavily influenced by Skip James, Wilson began singing similar to James' high pitch. Some of his first singing attempts took place behind a closed bedroom door; and when a family member overheard him, he was embarrassed. Wilson eventually perfected the high tenor for which he would become known. Wilson wrote and sang the band's break out hit "On the Road Again,' an updated version of a 1950's composition by Floyd Jones, on the band's second release, Boogie With Canned Heat. In an interview with Down Beat magazine he remarked, "... on 'On The Road Again' I appear in six different capacities - three tamboura parts, harmonica, vocal, and guitar, all recorded at different times." "On The Road Again" peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number 8 on the UK singles charts earning the band immense popularity in Europe.
Canned Heat's third album included the band's best-known song, also sung by Wilson, "Going Up the Country." The song, an incarnation of Henry Thomas' "Bull-Doze Blues" was rewritten by Wilson and caught the "back to nature" attitude of the late 1960's. The tune was a hit in numerous countries around the world, peaking at number 11 in the US. The "rural hippie anthem" became the unofficial theme song for the Woodstock Festival where Canned Heat performed at sunset on August 16, 1969.
In May 1970, Canned Heat teamed up with John Lee Hooker, fulfilling a dream for Wilson of recording with one of his musical idols. It would be his last recording. The resulting double album "Hooker 'N' Heat" was the first in Hooker's career to make the charts. On the album, Hooker is heard wondering how Wilson was capable of following his guitar playing so well. Hooker was known to be a difficult performer to accompany, partly because of his disregard of song form, yet Wilson seemed to have no trouble at all following him on this album. Hooker states that "you [Wilson] musta been listenin' to my records all your life" and also stated that Wilson was the "greatest harmonica player ever."
On September 3, 1970, Wilson was found dead in his sleeping bag on the hillside behind Bob Hite's Topanga Canyon home where he often slept. He was 27 years old. An autopsy identified his manner and cause of death as accidental acute barbiturate intoxication. Wilson's death came just two weeks before the death of Jimi Hendrix, four weeks before the death of Janis Joplin, and ten months before the death of Jim Morrison, three artists who also died at the same age.
Besides being a gifted musician, Wilson was a passionate conservationist who loved reading books on botany and ecology. He often slept outdoors to be closer to nature, and amassed a large collection of pinecones, leaves and soil samples. Wilson communicated with trees and plants better than he did with people. In 1970 Wilson established a conservation fund called Music Mountain in the Skunk Cabbage Creek area of California to purchase a grove to be added to Redwood National Park. The purpose of this organization was to raise money for the preservation of the coastal redwood, which Wilson saw increasingly endangered by pollution, and urban sprawl. He wrote an essay called 'Grim Harvest', expressing his concern for the logging of redwoods, which was printed as the liner notes to Canned Heat's 1969 album Future Blues. It begins, "The redwoods of California are the tallest living things on Earth, nearly the oldest, and among the most beautiful to boot." In order to support his dream, Wilson's family purchased a "grove naming" in his memory through the Save the Redwoods League of California. The money donated to create this memorial will be used by the League to support redwood reforestation, research, education, and land acquisition of both new and old growth redwoods. Wilson was cremated and his ashes were later scattered in Sequoia National Park amongst the giant redwoods he passionately loved.July 4 1943-September 3 1970 (suicide - overdosed on barbiturates)
Alan Wilson was a founding member of Canned Heat. After suffering through years of depression and the fact that Wilson was slowly going blind, he decided to commit suicide on September 3, 1970. He was found by fellow band member Bob Hite.- Kristen Marie Pfaff was born on May 26, 1967 on Buffalo, New York, USA. Kristen is the only child of her mother's first marriage, which ended in divorce when Kristen was very young. Her mother Janet later married Norman Pfaff, and Kristen took his stepfather's surname. She had a younger brother, Jason Pfaff.
Kristen graduated in 1985 from Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. She spent a brief time in Europe and returned to USA attend Boston College. She later enrolled in University of Minnesota.
Kristen Pfaff played classical piano and cello since she was a child, but it wasn't until she was around 21 years old, living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that Kristen started to play the bass guitar.
Kristen formed her first band, "Janitor Joe" in 1992, alongside guitarist/vocalist Joachim Breuer and drummer Matt Entsminger. "Janitor Joe" released their first single the same year, and their debut album, "Big Metal Birds" on 1993.
Los Angeles band Hole were looking for a female bassist, after the departure of their previous bass player Jill Emery. Founding members Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson scouted Kristen during a "Janitor Joe" performance in California. Love asked Kristen to join Hole, but she declined, returning to Minnesota. Both musicians insisted on their purpose to have Kristen as their new bass player. Hole had a millionaire contract with multinational record company Geffen Records, so finally Kristen moved to Seattle, Washington, in order to join Hole.
In early 1993, Kristen started to rehearsal for Hole 's second album, "Live Through This". Kristen provided bass, piano and backing vocals. In Seattle, Kristen became close friend of bandmate, guitarist 'Eric Erlandson (I)' (later they would have a romantic relationship) and a good friend of 'Nirvana' frontman, Kurt Cobain, then husband of bandmate Courtney Love. Alongside drummer Patty Schemel, the band moved to Los Angeles to record "Live Through This" on October,1993.
Unfortunately, Kristen began to use heroin during her time on Seattle (like most of her inner circle). On February, 1994, Kristen moved back to Minnesota in order to enter a heroin detox center. She then took a sabbatical from Hole, and after her detox, Kristen reunited with "Janitor Joe" members and went to tour with them.
On April 8th, 1994, Kurt Cobain 's body was found on his Seattle house. This tragedy affected Kristen, and she returned to Seattle after the "Janitor Joe" tour, with the decision to leave Hole and return to Minneapolis.
On June 16th, 1994, Kristen Pfaff was found dead in the bathroom of her Seattle apartment by her friend Paul Erickson, who was supposed to drive her back to Minneapolis. She was at her Seattle apartment to retrieve some of her packed belongings. The cause of dead was declared as an accidental heroin overdose.May 26 1967-June 16 1994 (heroin overdose)
Kristen Pfaff played bass with Hole. Born in New York State, she died of a drug overdose in Seattle, just over 2 months after the death of Kurt Cobain (her friend). Her body was found in the bath. - Actor
- Composer
- Writer
Stretch was an actor and composer, known for Turbo (2013), Above the Rim (1994) and Who's the Man? (1993). He died on 30 November 1995 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA.April 8 1968-November 30 1995 (homicide - shot)
Randy 'Stretch' Walker was a member of the rap group Live Squad. He was shot dead in New York.
Was shot to death exactly one year after the November 30, 1994 attack on his former friend Tupac Shakur.- June 3 1947-February 10 1975 (pulmonary edema)
David Alexander was a bassist for the Stooges. He was fired by Iggy Pop for being unreliable, and drank himself to death. - Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Pete Ham was born on 27 April 1947 in Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK. He was a composer, known for Boss Level (2020), The Departed (2006) and Casino (1995). He died on 23 April 1975 in London, England, UK.April 27 1947-April 24 1975 (suicide by hanging)
Peter Ham was the leading member of Badfinger. He suffered from depression, and hanged himself in his garage studio at home in Surrey, England.
At the time of his death, his blood alcohol content was estimated to have been 0.27%. He left behind a pregnant girlfriend, who gave birth to their daughter one month after his death. His suicide note had the statement, "I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. This is better."