So, it wasn't a surprise to me when my passion for dead musicians was reignited with the recent tragic death of pop sensation Amy Winehouse. What made her death even more prolific, was the fact that she now belonged to a very significant group of influential musicians,The 27 Club.
Here's a short list of other unlucky musicians that I didn't compile earlier:
27) Amy Winehouse - Many young people desire fame having no idea what it truly entails. Once there, they will do anything to avoid its pressures. Throw in the illness of addiction and you've got a staggering, slurring Molotov cocktail waiting to explode.
26) Les Harvey - Harvey was the co-founding guitarist for Stone The Crows and a member of the Alex Harvey Soul Band, the Blues Council, and the Scottish group Cartoone, who opened for Led Zeppelin. He was electrocuted by an ungrounded microphone.
25) Sean McCabe - Lead singer for the alternative rock band Ink And Dagger, McCabe pulled a John Bonham/Bon Scott and choked to death on his own vomit.
24) Helmut Kollen - Bassist and singer for German progressive rock band Triumvirat, Kollen died from carbon monoxide poisoning while listening to studio mixes in his car while running the engine with the garage door shut. Especially odd, since Kollen was an auto mechanic and race car driver.
23) Roger Durham - Percussionist for American R&B group Bloodstone, Durham fell off a horse.
22) Jesse Belvin - Belvin was an American R&B singer who wrote the classic tunes "Earth Angel" and "Goodnight My Love." He was killed in a head-on collision in the ironically named Hope, Arkansas.
21) Gary Thain - Bassist for the Keef Hartley Band and Uriah Heep, Thain died of a heroin overdose.
20) Richey Edwards - The rhythm guitar player for the Manic Street Preachers is said to have committed suicide, though not everyone agrees. He has been missing since 1995.
19) Malcolm Hale - Lead guitarist and trombonist for Spanky & Our Gang, whose hits included "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" and "Lazy Day," Hale died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a crappy space heater.
18) Bryan Ottoson - Guitarist for American Head Charge, Ottoson died from an accidental prescription drug overdose.
17) Mia Zappata - Singer for the Gits, Zappata was raped, beaten, and strangled to death. Her assailant was convicted and sentenced to 36 years in prison.
16) Kristen Pfaff - Pfaff became the bassist for Hole in 1993 and died from a heroin overdose in 1994.
15) Jeremy Michael Ward - The "sound technician" and "vocal operator" for the Mars Volta and the dub group De Facto, Ward died of a heroin overdose.
14) Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson - The singer, guitarist, and harmonica player for the blues band Canned Heat, Wilson sang that "Going Up The Country" song and died of a drug overdose, though the two are not linked. Many suppose it was suicide.
13) Pete de Freitas - Replacing the drum machine, de Freitas became Echo & The Bunnymen's first drummer. He died in 1989 in a motorcycle accident.
12) Jean-Michel Basquiat - A member of the noise-rock band Gray, Basquiat went on to appear in the video for Blondie's "Rapture" and to briefly date Madonna. He was also a successful modern painter who died of a heroin overdose at his art studio.
11) Pete Ham - Depressed over being screwed out of the money he earned as a member of Badfinger, guitarist Pete Ham hanged himself in 1975. His bandmate, Tom Evans, also depressed over missing money, followed suit and hanged himself in 1983.
10) Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - Keyboardist and founding member of the Grateful Dead, McKernan died of a stomach hemorrhage caused by years of heavy drinking. He had left the band the previous year.
9) Dave Alexander - The original bassist for the Stooges, Alexander died of pulmonary edema after being admitted to the hospital for pancreatitis brought on from years of drinking. Mike Watt of the Minutemen replaced him in the reformed Stooges.
8) D. Boon - A broken neck killed the singer-guitarist-songwriter for the Minutemen when the van he was sleeping in ran off the road. The band disbanded immediately.
7) Chris Bell - The guitarist for the legendary cult-pop-rock band Big Star had left the group and struggled to begin a recording career. He worked in his father's restaurant. His car struck a pole and killed him instantly.
6) Jim Morrison - Is he really dead? He was "allegedly" found dead in a bathtub in Paris. Listed cause of death was heart failure, but others have suggested otherwise.
5) Brian Jones - "Death By Misadventure," aka he drowned in a swimming pool. Others say it was a conspiracy and he was left to die in the pool.
4) Kurt Cobain - Shot by his own gun. Cobain killed himself after battling heroin addiction and not feeling it like Freddie Mercury.
3) Robert Johnson - Legendary bluesman who inspired British boys to play blues. The legend says he was poisoned by a jealous husband.
2) Janis Joplin - Said to be a heroin overdose. Joplin was also noted for downing staggering amounts of alcohol.
1) Jimi Hendrix - Hendrix choked on his own vomit while being brought to the hospital to be saved from a mix of drugs and alcohol.
There you have it! It's truly startling that many more musicians also belong on this list. The immortalisation of these musicians through the media has enabled our society to envision these often troubled and successsful musicians as they were at the peak of their careers. They are forever young; Jimi Hendrix etched in my psyche as a guitar god of the psychedelic era, Jim Morrison singing 'LA Woman' in his roaring voice, assisted by a few swigs of potent alcohol.
Following the media storm, that was the death of Amy Winehouse, I read many comments on how her death was far from the surprise of the century one comment read: Not Surprised that Amy Winehouse joined Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison the DEAD-AT-27 STUPID CLUB'.
I was saddened by her death, I really was. Such a rare talent and such a waste. I guess some people just aren't meant to die old. I really thought musician Ryan Adams summed up the way I felt about her death in its entirety:
"It makes me angry to think after years of being a punching bag in the press that it takes the death of Amy Winehouse for her life and art to be treated with any amount of respect. For every slurred line or stumble paraded in newspapers or across the interent and TV, there was a real person with real issues whose life and works were marginalized in order to exploit her sickness. What a shame".
This also applies to many other members of this 'stupid' 27 Club. RIP
Just red all 3 blogs-great work, I thoroughly enjoyed them, you have a real knack for writing, keep up the good work :) will be tuning in on a regular basis :)
ReplyDeleteDid all those musicians die at 27? Very interesting. Thanks for the read.
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