The Day the Rock Stars Died

Back in the early 1970s when rock stars seemed to rule the world, the biggest names were mostly in their 20s, and most of those who went to their concerts and bought their music were around the same age. Rock was going to live forever and it was easy to feel that its stars would be around for a long time. That feeling began to wane as some of the biggest talents died from 1969 to 1971: Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison of the Doors. Most were at the height of their careers, so it was noticeable that all died at the age of 27. That last fact seemed very strange, so people began to talk of the “27 Club,” and for a time it became what today we call a “meme.”

After Morrison died in 1971, the fad of looking for other examples seemed to fade away, but in 1994, another talented and popular musician who fit the “star” pattern of those earlier performers, and who had been born in 1967 (within a few years of when the four named above had died), committed suicide at the age of 27, and suddenly the 27 Club meme came alive with a vengeance. Some people swear it is a real thing, while statisticians and scientists say there is nothing to it. True or not true, perhaps an astrological look at this