What is the 27 club? All celebrities who’ve made the morbid list

Chances are you’ve heard of the 27 Club at some point in your life, but what exactly is this tragic cultural phenomenon?

An informal list, the 27 Club consists of celebrities who died at the early age of 27, many of whom are musicians. It has since become a staple in pop culture after being first coined following the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994.

Prior to Cobain, rock fans had already begun to notice a pattern of their favorite artists dying at 27. However, the death of Nirvana’s lead singer attracted significant attention to the phenomenon.

The list has since evolved to include celebrities from all entertainment industries, from actors to artists and every performer in between.

Which celebrities are members of the 27 Club?

As the 27 Club is informal, there is no official membership. Nonetheless below are some of the most well-known names who joined the morbid club, including how they died.

Robert Johnson

While some records of the 27 Club date back much earlier, a majority start with blues singer and musician Robert Johnson. His singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent resulted in Johnson being recognized as a master of the blues, although his career only spanned seven months.

Johnson died on August 16, 1938, of unknown causes. His death certificate — obtained 30 years later — failed to include a cause and no formal autopsy has ever been done.

Rudy Lewis

Posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rudy Lewis was the lead vocalist for The Drifters and died on May 21, 1964. Like Johnson, an autopsy was never performed.

Authorities ruled his death likely to be the result of a drug overdose after he was found dead in a Harlem hotel room after The Drifters were due to record one of their songs, Under the Boardwalk.

Brian Jones 

The founder and original leader of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones was the first major death of the 27 Club which saw fans of rock ‘n’ roll start to notice a pattern.

Jones died around midnight on July 3, 1969, after being discovered at the bottom of his swimming pool at Cotchford Farm. The official cause of death was listed as drowning, with the coroner’s report later clarifying this as a “death by misadventure.”

Jimi Hendrix

One year later, influential electric rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix’s four-year mainstream career came to an end after he died on September 18, 1970.

Drug and alcohol abuse led to his death after Hendrix was found unresponsive and unconscious by his girlfriend at the time, Monika Dannemann. An inquest concluded that Hendrix had aspirated on his vomit and died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates.

Janis Joplin

Hailed as one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time, Janis Joplin died the same year on October 4, 1970, of a heroin overdose, possibly compounded by alcohol.

Joplin’s close friend Peggy Caserta, however, believed that the American singer and songwriter had died as the result of a head injury after falling and hitting her face on a table. Caserta did admit though that intoxication may have played a role in Joplin’s death.

Jim Morrison

One year later in 1971, Jim Morrison died unexpectedly in a Paris apartment on July 3. The lead vocalist and primary lyricist of The Doors was found dead in the bathtub by his girlfriend, Pamela Courson.

The official cause of death was listed as heart failure, although no autopsy was performed and some have since suspected drug and alcohol abuse were involved. Courson would die of a heroin overdose three years later, also at the age of 27.

Ron McKernan

Known by his stage name ‘Pigpen’, McKernan was the founding member, keyboardist, and singer of the Grateful Dead. He had developed alcohol dependency from a young age resulting in numerous health issues including cirrhosis of the liver and ulcers.

McKernan died on March 8, 1973, of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage. He wasn’t found until approximately two days later by his landlady at his home in Corte Madera, California.

Jean-Michel Basquiat 

An American graphic artist part of the Neo-expressionism movement, Jean-Michel Basquiat became an art-world celebrity in the late 1970s. His paintings were being exhibited in galleries and museums internationally, however, the young artist also developed a drug addiction.

This ultimately led to his death on August 12, 1988, after being found unresponsive at his home on Great Jones Street in Manhattan. It was determined Basquiat had died of a heroin overdose.

Mia Zapata

Lead singer of the Gits, Mia Zapata is the first murder victim to make the list after she was beaten, raped, and strangled to death on July 7, 1993, while walking home. $70,000 was raised to help solve her murder, though it seemed for years Zapata would not get any justice.

Then, in 2003, a breakthrough in DNA technology saw Florida fisherman Jesus Mezquia arrested. Mezquia had a history of violence toward women and was linked to Zapata’s murder due to saliva found in bite marks on her body. He was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to 37 years before dying in 2021.

Kurt Cobain

Founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain’s death shocked the world when he died of suicide on April 5, 1994. After an intervention regarding Cobain’s drug use the month prior, his body was found by an electrician on April 8.

Despite debate surrounding the circumstances, Cobain’s death remains listed as a suicide. He died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head and left a letter offering insight into his state of mind.

Jonathan Brandis

Jonathan Brandis was a former child actor best known for his roles in the 1990 miniseries adaption of Stephen King’s It and the popular 1993 series SeaQuest DSV.

Struggling to maintain his career afterward, Brandis committed suicide in his Los Angeles apartment after his appearance in the 2002 war drama Hart’s War was significantly reduced. He later died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital on November 12, 2003.

Amy Winehouse

A powerhouse vocalist, British R&B and soul singer Amy Winehouse died on July 23, 2011, after a long and well-documented struggle with drug and alcohol abuse.

Her bodyguard found her unresponsive in bed and a coroner attributed her “sudden and unexpected death” to alcohol poisoning.

Anton Yelchin

Actor Anton Yelchin was best known for his role as Lieutenant Pavel Chekov in the 2009 Star Trek reboot and maintained an active career up until his death.

On June 18, 2016, friends found Yelchin had been fatally injured in a freak accident after his car rolled back and pinned him against a brick pillar. The cause of death was listed as “blunt traumatic asphyxia.”

Kim Jong-hyun

Known as Jonghyun, Kim Jong-hyun was the vocalist of the South Korean boy band Shinee for nine years. He died by suicide on December 18, 2017, after renting an apartment for two days in southeastern Seoul and sending a series of concerning messages to his sister.

A post-mortem was not carried out, though investigators believed he had died from inhaling either toxic fumes or smoke.

Chance Perdomo

Most recently, actor Chance Perdomo died in a motorcycle accident in March of this year. He had risen to fame for his roles in the hit TV series Gen V and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The producers of The Boys spinoff later revealed they would not be recasting his role in the show.